


The Doctor and the Queen

by crystanagahori



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Assumes Fix-It, DoctorxDonna, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Ignores Day of the Doctor and Waters of Mars, Liz and Donna are besties, Post JE, lots of cute, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 13:33:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4021747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystanagahori/pseuds/crystanagahori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Now that I have you back, I'm not going to let you slip away again, no matter what, so forgive me if I'm not quite as eager as to to find out why Queen Bess will want to lob my head off in the future."</p><p>In which I try to explain why the Queen hates the Doctor so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, but I hate the Day of the Doctor. *shakes fist at Moffat* So here we are. Not a part of the same verse as my other stories, kind of. Maybe if you squint, but only just.

Donna woke up that morning to a cold, lonely bed and synthetic sunlight pouring into her bedroom. The TARDIS operated on a day and night cycle especially for her human passengers, giving them some sense of time passing while they hurdled through time and space. Donna pulled her knees up to her chest and looked over at the empty spot beside her, frowning. She hadn’t even realized that she was sleeping on just one side of the bed.

She should be happy, shouldn’t she? Euphorically and incandescently, happily-ever-after happy. This was what she wanted after all. After recovering her memories somehow, she was back in the TARDIS with the Doctor, best mates and still equals, despite losing most of the Time Lord mind she’d acquired in the Crucible.

But Donna wasn’t happy.

Ever since she’d come back…things between Donna and the Doctor had turned…civil. They didn’t tease each other, they didn’t joke around as much, let alone touch each other. Sure the Doctor would still take them places, save them from the vampires (sorry, she was supposed to call them plasmavores) that wanted to take over the Medici line in Florence in the 14th century, but there was a distance between them that might as well have been a chasm for all Donna knew.

She slowly got out of bed, wondering what distraction he was going to set up for them this time to avoid talking about what was actually going on. After getting ready for the day, Donna padded into the kitchen, where the Doctor was sitting and gloomily boring holes into his mug of tea. But as soon as he saw Donna in the corner of his eye, he wiped the frown from his face and smiled up at her like nothing happened.

“Morning Spaceman,” Donna mumbled sleepily, walking over to the stove to grab the still warm kettle of water to make herself a cuppa. She yawned and poured the still hot water into a mug and tossed a bag of Darjeeling loose leaf (picked up from the East India Trading Company on a lark as she recalled) into her cup. She joined the Doctor on the table. “What are we up to today?” 

“I thought we could stay in,” the Doctor said nonchalantly, his manner revealing nothing of his emotions. It was apparently a bad day if even he didn’t want to go out and see the wonders of the universe. “TARDIS could use a bit of maintenance, she’s been flying a bit dodgy lately.” 

“Sure it’s not because of her pilot?” Donna dared to tease, just to gauge his mood. She realized she’d been doing that a lot lately.

The Doctor didn’t even seem to hear her, standing up from the kitchen table. Donna wanted to grab him, pull him down and get him to talk to her, but that wasn’t what he wanted. Leaving his tea still warm on the table, the Doctor made his exit. Donna sighed, brushing the top of the table with her fingertips.

When she was still new to travelling with her certified Spaceman, Donna always had that feeling that one day he would wake up and drop her off home in Chiswick, back to the same old life when he realized that he couldn’t stand her chastising him and slapping him around. After some time that feeling had ebbed and vanished completely.

Until now.

Donna found herself wondering when the day will come that the Doctor would leave her in Chiswick when he realized that he had made a giant mistake, letting Donna come back, choosing her over Rose. She had been gathering up the strength to beat him to it, be asked to go home before he could ditch her—but she neither had the courage nor strength to do that. Wether he liked it or not, she was determined to keep her promise of travelling with him forever. The Doctor was going to need some really high tech space crane to drag her away from the TARDIS at this point.

“What am I supposed to do now then?” She asked nobody in particular, sighing. Then the TARDIS groaned as the whole ship lurched, making the tea splash on the table as it rocked. Donna instinctively moved away from the kitchen, grabbing on to walls and even the grated floor to make her way to the console room. The Doctor was shaking along with his ship, reaching out to feebly grab at controls and buttons, but there was nothing that seemed to work.

“Doctor, what’s going on?!” Donna demanded as the turbulence continued. The Doctor opened his mouth to give her an answer when the entire ship went still, and, like it had just made a really funny joke, went ‘ding!’ like an elevator and opened the doors. Donna eyed the Doctor warily as he shrugged on his brown duster and walked nonchalantly towards the doors like this was an everyday occurrence.

“Oh,” he said from the outside. “Come and have a look at this, Donna.”

 _Here we go_ , she thought, steeling herself as she walked tentatively towards the TARDIS doors. She closed her eyes, half-expecting to see Chiswick on the other side, when she misjudged the step (or did she?) and had to stumble into the Doctor’s back. She realized where they were after she steadied herself. They were parked right in front of the Tower of London.

Only Donna was pretty sure that Tower Bridge was supposed to be right behind it, not a rickety old bridge. Plus, while London had a lot of greenery, it didn’t have that much around the Tower. Nor did it had that faint smell of manure in the air. So they were in the past. Sometime before Tower Bridge was built, not that Donna knew when that was. There was a reason why she had to retake a history module or two.

“It’s…it’s the Tower of London,” she said, slightly confused. “Why would the TARDIS bring us here?”  

“Like I said, dodgy flying,” the Doctor remarked, shaking his head. “So I really need to—“ 

He was just about to turn to retreat back into the TARDIS when the doors stubbornly slammed shut. The Doctor pulled and grunted, even kicked his flying machine a bit to see if she would relent, but the ship wouldn’t budge. Not even Donna’s key worked.

“Come on,” The Doctor groaned, rubbing the side of the ship with the palm of his hand. It was such a kind and gentle gesture, and from someone who had been moody and quiet for the last few weeks, it was unnerving. Donna wanted to smack herself when she realized that she was jealous of the ship. “What’s wrong with you, eh?”

 If the Doctor wanted to be alone today, then Donna wasn’t going to stand in his way. Without another word from him, she started to trudge off down the hill that the TARDIS had parked in. She didn’t much care where she was going or when she was, she just knew that the Doctor wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

“Donna?” The Doctor called after her retreating form. “Where are you going? Don’t run off!” 

“I’m not running off, I’m walking away!” Donna called back, intentionally being vague. The Doctor raced down the hill after her, his coat billowing behind him like he was some kind of Superman (or Superspaceman in this case).

  
“Don-na!” He called again, his long legs helping him reach her quickly, pulling her arm back as it was the first thing he managed to grab. “Where are you going?”

  He was surprised to find her face already wet with tears, the tips of her nose blushing bright red when she looked up at him. She looked so devastated, and it pained him to think of why.

“Look Doctor, clearly you want to be alone today, and I respect that,” she managed to say clearly and plainly, like she didn’t have all the telltale signs of distress on her face. “So while you haven’t kicked me out of the TARDIS, I’m going down to meet the Queen. Or king. I don’t know, and I frankly don’t care.” 

“What do you mean kick you out, why would I kick you out of the TARDIS?” He asked in exasperation, pulling her arm again before Donna could wriggle free from his grasp. This was the most physical contact they’d shared since Donna returned, and before that they had been all about the hugging, and the touching. Sometimes she thought it meant more than they should, but now, she knew better.

“Come off it Spaceman, you’ve regretted choosing me ever since we got off that beach and you left Rose behind with our better half,” Donna snapped at him. “If it wasn’t for my brain exploding—“ 

“Burning up,” he corrected, and she chose to ignore him. She was about to launch into another tirade about why she was right when he sighed and let go of her arm. The action made her pause and look at him the way she used to. She never really stopped looking at him that way, really. “Donna, your brain was burning up, and I wasn’t going to leave you. I thought…I thought you were going to die.” His head was lowered, his eyes dark and swirling with an anger that she hadn’t expected. Why was he angry?

  “Well you made sure that didn’t happen, didn’t you,” she snapped, looking at his anger and matching it with her own. “I told you what I wanted and you ignored that.”  A look passed across his face, a flinch, a flash of annoyance or a stab of pain. Donna knew the discussion was over before it began.

“This was a mistake,” the Doctor said suddenly, frog marching back towards the TARDIS. “We’re not supposed to be here.” 

“Obviously not, you were too busy trying to chuck me out of the TARDIS!” Donna yelled back, turning her heel and frog marching towards the Tower of London. When did her wonderful outer space and time life start feeling like a prison cell? When did her best mate become a stranger?

“Donna!” The Doctor yelled, chasing after her again as she trudged down the hill and to a small area in front of them that, judging from the smell wafting up to his olfactory senses, was the menagerie. It was dawn on a Saturday morning, one of those Saturdays that felt important, timeline-wise. A fixed point loomed above their heads, and he knew that this wasn’t a good sign. Why did the TARDIS land them here and on this particular day?

All he wanted was to have one day where he was sure that nothing would happen, one day where he could take a breath and relax knowing that Donna Noble, the Most Important Woman in the Universe was safe and sound and as far away from danger as possible.

There was something off with them, ever since she came back, and he knew exactly what it was. It was him. He wasn’t trying to kick her out, quite the opposite. He was terrified of losing her. The metacrisis had almost taken her away completely, and he was still in disbelief that for once in his many lives—something came back and was for him to hold on to, to live for and keep. But he wasn’t willing to go through the pain again, so he sheltered her, protected her and kept her at a distance, because he didn’t know what else he was supposed to do.

He finally caught up with her, spotting her bright red hair as she knelt by the door of the menagerie. He sighed in relief and reached out his hand to pat her shoulder.  
"Blimey you can run, Donna! Now let's go back to the TARDIS so I can figure out what's wrong with her, eh?"

The shoulder turned, and the Doctor balked at the owner's steely gaze. Sure she had bright red hair, but his wasn't Donna Noble at all. She was a commanding figure, with smooth pale white skin, sharp eyes, a long, aristocratic chin and she did not looked amused.

"I don't believe you have the privilege to touch a Queen," she seethed. "Nor do I think you have the right to look upon my face. But then again, I am not due to become the Queen until later, so you are excused."

"What?" the Doctor asked blinking at her, completely confused. He suddenly withdrew his hand, like her skin was on fire. "What?"

Elizabeth Tudor raised an auburn eyebrow. "I don't think I can excuse rudeness, however. Shall I call the guards now, or would you like a head start?"

Suddenly, Donna's head popped into the view, apparently coming from inside the stable Elizabeth was kneeling in front of. She had a couple of carrots in her hand that the chocolate brown mare beside her was happily consuming. Her mood seemed much improved.

"I wouldn't call the Beefeaters on that one, Liz, he's a slippery ol' alien," she said nonchalantly, like feeding carrots in Elizabeth I's menagerie, talking about aliens was the most normal thing in the world for her. And it should be, shouldn't it?

"Is he your husband?" Elizabeth asked in an annoyed but slightly amused voice, and Donna rolled her eyes.

"No, no we're not married," The Doctor chirped in.

"So not married," Donna added in agreement. "I'm against marrying Martians on principle."

"I'm not...I'm the Doctor, your majesty, good to meet you," he said hastily to Elizabeth and giving her a quick but reverent bow. "Sadly Donna and I have another pressing engagement with my time machine so..."

Elizabeth seemed neither disturbed nor surprised at the Doctor having a time machine, but it was Donna who had something to say about that. She stepped out of the stable and right up to the Doctor, jamming a finger into his skinny chest. "Elizabeth Tudor has just invited me to her coronation, and she insists I call her Liz. Liz, Doctor! Can we just stay and watch? I mean, it's a coronation. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Are you really asking me that question?" The Doctor asked in exasperation as Donna rolled her eyes. Champion eye roller Donna Noble was, she could make cities crumble with just that eye roll.

Behind them, the would-be Virgin Queen twittered with laughter. She stood up, her deep brown cloak swishing around her as she turned to them. The Doctor swallowed a lump in his throat, eyeing her warily. Donna noticed the way he looked at Elizabeth and rolled her eyes again.

"I never thought I would laugh this much, and on such a serious day too," she remarked, her eye twinkling with amusement. "Then again I never thought I would be queen either. I came to the menagerie to pray and have a bit of time to myself, and I am sent you two. Come to the coronation, Doctor. Or will you continue to disappoint myself and Donna?"

Then with a wink at Donna, Elizabeth turned and walked out of the menagerie, raising the hood of her cloak over her head as she was joined by a couple of royal guards. Donna, who was still observing the Doctor, nudged him slightly in the ribs. The mood had changed, now that they were on an adventure again, Donna was feeling much better. Anything to hold off the Doctor leaving her behind.

"You know she's supposed to be the Virgin Queen, right?" she teased, walking out of the stinky old barn and expecting him to follow. "What is it with you and historical women?"

"I'm not...Donna," the Doctor said, sighing as they made it back out into the warm, English sunshine. At least, as warm as it could be in Elizabethan England, what with no toilet systems and all. "Did Martha ever mention anything to you about visiting Shakespeare?"

"She might have done," Donna shrugged. Honestly she and Martha talked quite often (especially since she came back, she needed someone to keep her sane), but it was mostly about how the Doctor was acting like a big space twat and the possible sex life of their Metacrisis Doctor. Adventures and years that never were tended to slip the mind. "Why?"

"The last time I saw Queen Bess," the Doctor muttered darkly, "We saved the Globe from the Carrionites. She called me her greatest enemy and had the royal guard chase me and Martha all the way into the TARDIS while Shakespeare was watching."

"She doesn't seem to hate you that much, though," Donna pointed out.

"Which is why I have a feeling that if we stick around, it's not going to end well for you or me, and I don't want that," he said quickly, speaking so fast that he hoped Donna wouldn't pick up on it.

"But you're going to find out eventually, anyway," Donna said as they approached the Tower. There were carriages waiting to take guests to Westminster, and nobody blinked an eyelash at the time travelers in their strange clothing as they were ushered into one. "Can't you just let me have this last trip before you leave?"

"Why do you keep insisting that I am going leave you, Donna?" the Doctor asked. He'd never been one to push issues. That was Donna's job, to push him, to pull him back. In fact they never really had issues until before the Metacrisis. "I chose you over Rose, I practically broke the laws of time when I left you and then I came back!"

"Don't you dare lord that over my head you...Time Lord!" Donna roared back like Time Lord was the dirtiest word she could think of. "I asked you to let me die, and you let me live on for months with nothing but half of myself, and letting we think I wasn't...that I meant nothing to anyone. I never wanted to go back, but you made me," the anger fizzled out of Donna and she started sobbing, frustrated that of all the people in the universe, the Doctor had chosen not lot listen to her, not matter how much she'd begged. "You made me better, but what if you hadn't? Would you really let me live the way I did? I was a sad, empty shell with half my life missing!"

"I would," the Doctor said firmly. His dark gaze didn't flinch at Donna's tears, even if it made his hearts ache. She had to know. She had to see why he chose to do what he had done. "And I would do it again, Donna. Be angry all you want, but I didn't want a world without you in it. Even if it meant that I was never going to see you again."

"That day on the beach," he continued. "I looked right at Rose and I realized that she wasn't what I had built her up in my mind to be. She was too young, and she didn't understand what I had been through, what I have to go through everyday, what kind of decisions I have to live with. Not like you did. You're the madam, my equal, my best mate and that was it for me. When I left you in Chiswick, I was in the worst way. I chose one life over the other, I became exactly what I did't want to be. I didn't have you to stop me. Without you there I was a mess."

"Now that I have you back, I'm not going to let you slip away again, no matter what, so forgive me if I'm not quite as eager as to to find out why Queen Bess will want to lob my head off in the future."

Donna's tears were definitely spilling now, sliding down her cheeks in big, fat drops that she wiped away with her hands. She looked at him so strangely like he was completely alien to her. Which technically he was, but not really the point. There was a hint of vulnerability in the Doctor's eyes. He was trying so hard to stay strong, and stay firm in his decision. She could see right through him, though.

"I suppose you would do that for all your best mates, then," she remarked.

"Don't be too alarmed, Donna, but you're the only one," he answered. "The one, actually."

That stunning revelation didn't seem to phase or surprise Donna one bit. She sighed and ran a hand across her face. "You're not God, Doctor," she reminded him gently. She leaned forward and took his hand, begging, pleading with him to listen to her. "Please, if this happens again...I need to know that you're going to listen to me. If you don't...I don't know if I can trust you anymore. It's for you too. You need to know your limits."

"Don't leave," the Doctor mumbled into her hand. Donna's mind flashed back to Messaline, where the Doctor was holding his dying child in his arms, willing her not to die. The pain in his eyes was the same. "I'll listen to you. I promise. Don't leave me, Donna."

Donna's heart wrenched for him. She realized that no matter what she'd been through, if she felt like she was living half a life, he had felt the same. Only he knew what was missing. It didn't make his pain worse than hers, but it meant that he's been hurting too. Maybe that was enough for the both of them.

"You are so messed up, Spaceman," Donna sighed. "But I promised you forever, didn't I?" she asked, kissing the top of his head somewhat awkwardly as the carriage shook and jumbled over the dirt road. "So shall we watch Liz's coronation?"

* * *

It was a brilliant ceremony. Elizabeth's robes shone gold and made her bright red hair seem more prominent, and while everything was stately and formal, Donna found she wasn't bored at all. Her mum was a big fan of the royals, even before Diana and Charles got married, she would have turned green with jealousy if Donna told her about this. Honestly she never really saw the appeal of the royals until now. Their world was all state and majesty, intrigue and power play. How was that not fascinating?

"Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the First," someone's voice boomed through the abbey as Elizabeth slowly turned to face her audience. She was a small woman, buxom more than anything, and yet she was the biggest presence in the room that day.

"God save the Queen!" People began to chant around them, and the Doctor and Donna joined in, exchanging grins. Donna looked down at Elizabeth, who looked up and gave the Doctor a little wink.

"I think she fancies you," Donna pointed out with a smile. The Doctor smiled and waved awkwardly at the monarch to regard her greeting.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he shrugged and smiled that big old smug smile of his, which only made Donna laugh. "Save me a dance later?" he asked suddenly. "I heard these coronation dos are quite the event."

"I'm not exactly dressed for a ball, am I?" Donna pointed out, indicating her denim trousers, trainers and loose navy blue shirt. "Unless you've got a gown hidden in those deep pockets of yours."

"Not these pockets, no," he said, making a show of patting them down. "But I'm sure we can find something back in the Tower. You could nick something off of your best friend Bess."

"Oh yes, she would have a dress or two I would be very interested in," Donna remarked, and the both laughed before slipping out of the Abbey.

* * *

 The music swelled, ended, and Donna started laughing as she and her partner gave each other a bow. Who knew she could dance a Quadrille? Excusing herself, Donna started to walk over the man with a tray of champagne perched on his hand when she felt someone's arm snake around hers.

"Donna!" Elizabeth exclaimed cheerfully, laughing like she'd won a game. Her soft red curls were starting to fall from her updo, and her crown was slightly askew. Her cheeks were flushed red, and she just looked so happy. "I've been looking everywhere for you, but the Duke of Sandringham would not stop prattling on. That gown looks fantastic on you! Where's the Doctor?"

"Oh, uh, thank you," Donna said, fighting the urge to laugh. She'd plucked one of the gowns from Elizabeth's extensive wardrobe. This was a deep green, crepe dress with white lace on the neckline. Simple, but formal enough for the ball. "You flatter me, your majesty," Donna continued, finagling two champagne flutes while Elizabeth was turned away. "You look very, very...queen-like. It suits you, really." She wasn't quite sure why she had struck a friendship so quickly with the Queen--around everyone else she seemed to have a stroppy personality.

"Oh pish, I'm just the same old Liz," she chuckled, waving off Donna's compliment. "My mum was still imprisoned in this tower, hanged when I was two, until Henry died, I was a bastard child--the girl they never wanted. I just happened to be given a new name," she said, her laugher dying down slightly as the mood turned. "They hated me so much when I was born, now look at them." She turned to the revelers, some of them, bowing respectfully at their queen with a wave of her hand.

"You're going to make a brilliant queen, Liz," Donna promised her, tapping the top of Elizabeth's hand. Wether that was diplomatically allowed or not, she wasn't exactly sure. But she and Elizabeth were friends, right? She was still so young, and she had no idea what legacy she was about to lave. Donna wanted to tell her everything to dissuade her fears, but knew she couldn't. "It's not about how they love you, but how you protect them, I guess."

Donna shifted her gaze to the corner of the room, where she saw the Doctor in deep, animated discussion with what looked like a group of fifteenth century nerds. She wasn't surprised, and managed to hide a smile. The Doctor looked up suddenly and gave Donna a small wink and a wave, which she returned. Elizabeth saw the exchange and huffed slightly. She thought all eyes were supposed to be on her tonight.

"That...friend of yours," she commented to Donna. "Is he always that rude? I find him a bit...strange."

"Yes, that's exactly what he is," Donna laughed, still focused on the Doctor, who was slowly weaving his was through the crowds, still in his long brown coat and brown suit. Donna noticed that he rarely wore the blue suit now, probably reminded him too much of his half-Donna, half-Doctor twin in a parallel world. "He's rude, selfish and talks a load of rubbish, but he's wonderful. Like the start of the universe."

"Your majesty," the Doctor said politely, giving Elizabeth a little bow before smiling at Donna. "May I steal my companion away?"

"Stealing implies I did not give my consent, so asking my permission is a bit superfluous," Elizabeth reminded the Doctor, but she gave him a nod anyway. Donna gave Elizabeth a little wave before letting the Doctor lead her to the dance floor, just as a waltz started.

As with the quadrille, her body seemed to know just what to do, and they fell into the dance easily. The dim lighting flickered in his warm brown eyes, and Donna could feel them falling back into their old rhythms, him making a running commentary on Elizabethan England, her listening and rolling her eyes when he said something particularly pompous. The Doctor's hand was gentle on the low of her back, and Donna found herself edging closer to him. He was quiet for a measure, and Donna felt him tense under her hands.

There were times when he was like this, moments when he suddenly had the universe on his shoulders. Sometimes he berated himself for being too happy, and Donna could see that too. It was strange that her hyperactive, little boy-grin Spaceman had such mighty guilt over things he had done. She thought he deserved it, more now than ever, but that didn't mean that she liked it when he did. He looked slightly nervous, his eyes flickering quickly from Donna to the door. It wasn't fear or panic, he just looked like he wanted to get out of the room.

"Everything okay, Spaceman?" Donna asked curiously, placing her hand over one of his hearts to puss him back into the room. The Doctor jumped at her sudden touch, missing a step before nodding.

"Just...Elizabeth had the TARDIS moved to the Tower. I'd hoped to take a look and see what's wrong with her. But you can stay here if you like, party of the century and all, wouldn't want you to miss it."

Donna snorted and rejected the suggestion immediately. Breaking off from the dance, she took his hand in hers and pulled him towards the exit of the grand hall, the area suddenly devoid of light and noise. Anyone who saw them would have thought they were lovers going on a tryst, and not two best mates looking for their spaceship.

"Come on then, Doctor," Donna said, walking down the corridor. He grinned and jogged after Donna, falling into a leisurely walk once he matched her stride. She stumbled a bit in the dark, and he instinctively took her hand to help her along.

"We're alright, aren't we, Donna?" He asked her suddenly, the question making her pause. It was such a simple question, but she found the answer was way too complicated to be a simple yes or no. Yes they were better than they were when they first started again. No she was still upset with him but yes he was still her best mate. No they weren't okay, yes they were better than ever.

"We're always alright," she said, squeezing his hand and walking with him, as she always did. But there was something that had changed between them, something she didn't understand yet. But it hung in the air, like something they had yet to address.

She paused when she realized what it was. She remembered the Doctor's words earlier that day. _Don't be too alarmed, Donna, but you're the only one. The one, actually._  
Her breath hitched in her throat as she recalled the Doctor's words. _Was that...did he just...?_ Donna had been so indignant earlier that she'd missed the implications of what he had said completely. _It can't be true, can it? He said he just wanted a mate!_

But she'd been in his head, and he had in hers. She knew that his feelings had changed over their time together, and she knew how hard it had been for him to let her go. He must know how she felt for him then, but now? She couldn't even bring herself to consider it. Donna thought his feelings might have changed with their separation, but...was she wrong?

Donna didn't miss the rueful smile on the Doctor's face as they turned a corner of the corridor, only to have them both stop. She spotted something on the floor, something ill-formed and horrible smelling. It took her a moment to realize what it was.

"Oh my god!" Donna screamed, immediately ducking her face into the Doctor's chest, his hand pulling her closer to him to protect her from whatever it as she'd seen. "Is that...is it..."

"A skin suit," the Doctor said, squeezing their entwined fingers to pull away from her with the sonic in hand as he knelt towards the body (or what used to be a body). "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

He scanned it quickly with the sonic and his frown deepened. From where she was standing, Donna tried her best to breathe and look at the body, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Right coward she was.

"This is not good," he said, peering over to what used to be a human woman's head. "Not good at all."

He stood up and pulled something from the pockets of his jacket. It was a large, nondescript piece of cloth, which he placed over the remains to give the poor girl some dignity. Then he jumped up, his body uncoiling like a spring.

"Right," he said, going over to Donna, "You screamed, so someone will probably be here in--"

"What's going on?!" A gruff voice demanded as a couple of Yeoman guards ran to where the Doctor and Donna were standing. "Identify yourselves!"

The Doctor held up his arms to show he had no weapons, Donna doing the same despite the tears building behind her eyes. She couldn't get the image out of her mind--a young woman with nothing left but her skin and her hair. Her bright, ginger hair.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Donna announced, running off towards a nearby window to retch. The Doctor smiled kindly at the Yeoman guards.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor, and that's Donna Noble," he said, indicating Donna as she gave he guards a weak wave. "We're guests of her Majesty Queen Bess. Now sound the alarm gentlemen--there's a killer on the loose."


	2. Chapter 2

 

“You know when I asked to sound the alarm, this isn’t what I meant!” the Doctor yelled after the guards’ retreating backs as he and Donna were left alone together in a jail cell. "You're making a huge mistake! Just let us out, we can help!" 

"Let us go or I swear to god I will kick you all where the sun don't shine!" Donna had put up a heck of a fight, managing to step on one of the Yeomans’ booted foot before two guards hauled her up and had to carry her to the cell. Even then she’d kicked and screamed wildly. The Doctor would be surprised if the men weren’t retreating to be away from Donna instead of leaving them in a jail cell to rot. The wooden door shut in front of them, and they were left to pace inside a large cell with a grilled window. As jails went, this was definitely one of the more spacious.  

“Should have known we would end up in prison here at the bloody Tower of London!” Donna complained, flopping down on the uncomfortable bale of straw and crossing her arms over her chest. “This is so typical.”  


“You love it though,” the Doctor replied, cocking his head back and giving Donna that cheeky little grin of his where his tongue was pressed against the back of his teeth. Donna suddenly had the urge to smack that grin off his face. With her lips. And maybe her own tongue. Surely he would taste a lot less than ginger beer and anchovies this time?  

_Oh my god, since when did rude, skinny streak of nothing become my type?_ Donna asked herself, hiding her blush by pretending to walk look for a way to escape via the window. 

The Doctor smiled a little. She may think that she can hide form the world by screaming and rolling her eyes at it, but he knew her best of all. The walls she’d put up against him when they were separated (he would never say he left her, _always_ that they were forced apart) were crumbling down slowly, and he was determined to tear them away, even if all he had was a tiny toothpick from the Judoon home world. Given that their toothpicks there were diamond hard and nigh unbreakable, it wasn’t going to be as impossible as he thought. 

 "Can't you sonic the door open or something?" Donna asked. The Doctor was about to reply when she groaned. "Right, doesn't do wood, does it?"

"Not as such, no," The Doctor said sheepishly, scratching the hair on he back of his head awkwardly. "It's extremely difficult to put in a vibration setting on wood, the thicker it is the more difficult to get sound waves to penetrate through it. The calculations for something like that would take ages. I really should get on making a setting for that. It was on the top my list until--" 

"Until I got metacrisised, I get the picture," Donna sighed, flopping back down to the hale bay. She rubbed her hand over her face. All the alcohol she had consumed at the party and just throwing up by a window was doing nothing to soothe her headache. The Doctor furrowed his brows and sat beside her, making her jerk away immediately. The last time he had been that close to her was when he'd taken her memories away. 

It was the look of hurt on his face that broke Donna's heart. She couldn't help it. Did he still not understand? Things were changing between them, and she wasn't going to be as giving as she used to be. He had to understand that. She frowned and massaged her aching temples, shivering inside the cold, damp cell.

"Metacrisised isn't a word," he gently reminded her, taking her hands way from the side of her head. "Here," he said, stripping off his coat and placing it around her shoulders. "Lie down on my lap. The horizontal position should help with the headache." 

"I don't think a skinny leg is going to make much of a pillow," Donna complained, but lay down anyway, curled up to her side. She flinched again when the Doctor tried to caress her hair, so he settled for rubbing intricate circles and patterns on her shoulder instead. Despite her earlier involuntary hesitation, Donna relaxed quickly, closing her eyes and trying to centre herself again. She tried to erase the image of the poor girl's body from her face. She opened her mouth to ask the Doctor about that when he sighed, still sad and heartbroken. 

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" He asked suddenly. Now it was Donna's turn to sigh. She sat up and faced him, his coat still draped around her shoulders. He had to admit, it looked good on her. It made his hearts quicken a little, not that he was ever going to tell her that. But there was something in the way Donna looked at him, something that made him not as sure about her feelings as he thought he had been. 

"What is this, University Challenge? Why do you keep asking me these random questions?" Donna asked, frowning slightly. 

 "You didn't answer my question," the Doctor pointed out. 

"Neither did you," Donna told him. 

They were both stubborn creatures by nature, and the impasse between them to stretch on to forever. Black holes were formed, supernova exploded and new worlds were made in that moment of impasse. It was a standoff between the Last of the Time Lords who saved the Most Important Woman in the Universe, and the woman who believed her best friend hadn't saved her at all. 

"Just let me touch your face," he said, raising his hand slightly to touch hers. "Trust me, Donna. Please." He said it like their lives depended on it. Donna watched him with a stony gaze before nodding firmly. As his hand neared her face she could hear her own mind protesting. _Stop, don't take it away, please, don't make me go back!_ But she powered through, telling herself that it was different this time. He wasn't taking anything away. She was giving something back to him, willingly. Her faith, her trust, and all the pixie dust involved.

His fingers made contact with her cheek and the effect was electric. Something warm tingled and flickered inside Donna, and behind closed eyes, she sighed as her headache melted away. There was something gentle, almost reverent to the touch, and Donna wouldn't be surprised if were was some Time Lord magic mojo involved in this. He was trying to create a nice memory to associate with his touch, not to make Donna forget what he had done, but to remember this first. If a touch could convey how he felt, then he was baring his soul to her right then. And once again planets turned, galaxies formed and died, all centered around this moment. The end of an impasse, the start of something new. He wasn't touching her cheek, he was caressing it.

 The moment abruptly ended when the door to the prison cell opened and Elizabeth swept into the room flanked by her guards. She was already in her nightgown, the delicate silk bounced off in the moonlight that danced in the cell. Her bright red hair was tied back in a plait, and her face was firm. She saw Donna and the Doctor in their intimate position and blanched slightly. Then she coughed, and her expression changed in a mask of regal indifference, her chin held high. 

 "The guards tell me you've found a body," she said brusquely, stepping further into the cell. "You will tell me everything you know, and you will tell me _exactly_ who you are before I decide to have you locked in this tower for the rest of your life."

 Donna exchanged a look with the Doctor, and although she wasn't really thinking or saying anything, he nodded and stood up, standing in front of Donna to shield her from Elizabeth. 

 "That's going to take quite a while. Pretty sure I have a few hundred years still on this body, barring regeneration. Anyway, your majesty," he said slowly and calmly, like he didn't know that they could be sent straight to the gallows if his answer displeased the monarch. He was going for a very tough sell on this one, but Elizabeth had been receptive enough earlier that morning. "What we found is the discarded skin of one of your subjects--although I highly doubt that she was still human when it happened, but she definitely used to be human, ergo still your subject..." 

 "To the point, Spaceman," Donna hissed, tugging at his jacket, and the Doctor whirled to look back at the Queen. Elizabeth looked at the Doctor, her expression unreadable, but allowing for him to continue. 

 "Someone killed a member of your staff and used their skin to disguise themselves," he said point blank, shoving his hands into his pocket. "I've seen it before, but I can't be sure that this is the same thing. Many other species have similar methods as this. I can help you find out what's going on in the Tower."

 "And who _are_ you, Doctor?" She asked, stepping forward so that the light in her eyes shone as well. She studied him carefully, trying to determine his character from the way he stood, the way he seemed to be studying Elizabeth as well. Her eyes flickered towards Donna, who was looking up at the Doctor with such attention and trust and....love. There was love radiating from her and filling up the room. Donna loved and trusted this strange man with her life, and he cared for her and protected her. There was a metaphor there, of course, but Elizabeth felt no reason to dignify it. 

 "I'm..." The Doctor's gaze flickered towards Donna before he turned back to Elizabeth. "Not from this planet. I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey, and I believe you have an alien in the Tower. Well, aside from me." 

* * *

 

Sooner rather than later, they were back to the same spot where they found the body. It was late into the night, and nobody had really bothered to move the body, which made the smell a lost less pleasant than it was before they first found it. Donna stood back slightly, ready with the torch as the Doctor bent forward to study the body more carefully. Elizabeth stood beside Donna, still in her nightclothes and dressing gown and also holding a torch.  

She'd believed him, of course. People eventually did, if he babbled the right words. Immediately she appointed the Doctor as special counsel and investigator for the problem, and they marched right back to the body. 

"Ohhhh look at that," the Doctor said, obviously fascinated at whatever it was he was looking at. "If this was a Slitheen, the cut on the skin would be clean, easy to slip out of. But look at this, the skin's all jagged and messy."  

"I wouldn't really care about making a clean cut if I was running for my life," Donna pointed out, swinging around the torch. Elizabeth took Donna's hand to still the moving light. "I've seen this kind of thing on ER. When the doctors have to operate on a patient for the first time, they usually muck it up because they get so scared and nervous." 

"Donna Noble, you are brilliant!" the Doctor suddenly exclaimed, his voice boomed through the hall. He looked up at her to give her a saucy little wink. "Something that's doing this for the first time on Earth means it isn't native to its home planet," he said this very quickly, turning back to the body and giving the gaping cut a swipe with his fingertips. Even Elizabeth grimaced as the Doctor lightly sniffed at his finger and gave the residue a long lick.

"Eeeuuurgh," Donna groaned, making a face of disgust as the Doctor tried to break down what he was tasting. Bloody mass spectrometer thin-gamy he was. "Ever heard of health codes, Doctor?" 

"That is foul," Elizabeth agreed, shaking her head as the Doctor smacked his lips, tasting the residue. He seemed not to notice his audience's complaints and furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully. 

"Hmm. Looks human, smells human, definitely doesn't taste human," he said brightly, like he's just had a taste of something sweet. "That are amino acids here that aren't a part of the human DNA structure." He made a face as he continued to smack. "Ooh! That's interesting."

"I would have used a different word," Donna said, rolling her head so it dropped back. She was completely knackered. All she really wanted to do was go to bed. But obviously the poor dead girl had to come first. She noticed Elizabeth was watching her curiously (did she just swallow thickly?) and stopped massaging her neck. 

"The blood is sweet," the Doctor concluded. "Honey sweet, with a tang of familiar hemoglobins and leukocytes. A mutation!" He practically bellowed, scampering up to full height as he reached his conclusion. The Doctor ran down the hallway, his trainers slapping on the stone as Donna and the Queen followed him. When he reached the end of the hall, he seemed to realize that he had nowhere to go, so he started pacing. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, pulling at the strands to activate his brain cells. "But how? Those creatures are tiny, teeny tiny! Wouldn't hurt a fly! Well, they're the size of a fly, but doesn't mean they naturally want to kill them. Even the Vespiform was..."

"Right, can you start from the beginning so the rest of us human folk can catch up?" Donna interrupted, resting a hand on her hip and trying to ignore her tiredness. The Doctor whirled around and walked right up to Donna, studying her face with such intensity that she blinked and lowered the torch slightly. 

 "The bees of Melissa Majora, remember those?" He asked her, and she nodded. "They leave a taste of honey wherever they go, like a footprint or a trace. The body had those same traces in the bloodstream, which is odd because Majora bees aren't that violent, and they've never exhibited signs of mutation before." 

"So it's like the Vespiform," Donna said hesitantly. "Half human." 

"Mutating as the body tries to adjust, but sometimes, it doesn't take," the Doctor agreed, nodding. 

"But is there an immediate threat, Doctor?" Elizabeth asked, making Donna and the Doctor turn to her like they had forgotten that she was there. The Doctor threw another look at Donna (which she didn’t notice) before shaking his head. 

“As far as I can tell, no,” he said. “No. There are no indications that this mutation is spread anywhere else, but we have to be on our guard.” He gave Donna another thoughtful look, as if he was speaking to her. Elizabeth cleared her throat. She’d never had such a difficult time gaining someone’s attention! 

“Then that settles it,” she declared, passing the torch to a nearby guard and clapping her hands. Donna realized that it was almost dawn—the sky outside the castle was bright blue already. She’d been out with mates long enough to know what being up all night looked like. “We will have to resume this investigation in the morning. Fortunately or unfortunately for us, the entire court is here in the Tower sleeping of hangovers. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find an another alien life form if there ever was one.”  


The sarcasm dripped from her voice easily, and she waved for one of the guards to come forward to lead Doctor and Donna to their room. The guard led them away, and nobody noticed Elizabeth watch the Doctor place an arm around Donna’s shoulder. She leaned in like it was the most natural thing for her to do. Elizabeth found herself clenching a fist, huffing before she turned on her slippered heel and walked in the other direction. 

* * *

 

“Right, which side of the bed will you be on?” Donna asked with a sigh, looking up at the massive single bed in front of them. The room the guard had chosen for them was well-appointed but small. There was a window with massive pale green curtains that overlooked the Thames and wafted in a nice stench of manure. They had a nice tapestry on the back wall depicting a man stabbing a bear in the heart with a lance. Lovely. There was a porcelain basin off to the side, presumably their toilet, and the stone walls were all bathed in the low glow of candlelight. 

The bed took up most of the room. The four poster was so large Donna wondered how they managed to put through the door. The tapestry was pale green, like the curtains, and gold tassels hung all around the four sides. The bed had delicate carvings of flowers and cherubs looking into the bed, and the sheets were disappointing and plain.  

As far as palaces went, this wasn’t what Donna was expecting, but she was too tired to complain about the room. She also realized that the guard must have assumed they were married--she was pretty sure separate bedrooms were still apropos in this century. The Doctor shrugged off his coat and tossed it over the chair by the window, pulling the heavy brocade curtains closed to help stave off the smell. 

“Ehm…the same one, if you like,” he offered, stripping off his suit jacket and tossing it over his coat. He deftly pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. He didn’t miss the way Donna stared and promptly swallowed a lump of saliva that suddenly built up in her throat. She looked back at the bed suddenly, stripping off the sheets. _God, what a time to act like a blushing virgin, Donna thought to herself, grimacing inwardly_. This wasn’t like her at all.

“Er, right,” Donna said, letting the Doctor flop over to the left side of the bed, his usual spot. 

Their bed positions had slowly been established over the time they had traveled together. They had been forced to sleep next to each other in prison cells, foreign planets and on one occasion, an intergalactic IKEA. But the only time Donna really noticed that was that fateful night after they left Midnight. Just the thought of that place made her shudder. That was the night that the Doctor held on to her and cried quiet tears into her hair as he tormented himself over what he had almost lost, and what had shaken him. Donna had cried too, wishing she could take away his horror and fears, berating herself because _she should have been there_. They had been sleeping next to each other since then, until the Metacrisis. But even as she lived through her half a life, Donna realized she’d always slept on the right side of the bed. Even when she was alone. 

The sun was starting to come up on the horizon as she fiddled with her dress. It had been so easy to slip into earlier, now it just felt impossible. Donna sighed and dropped her hands. 

“A little help, please?” She asked, and the Doctor sprang up to help her remove the dress. His long, deft fingers quickly helped pull up the fabric, and Donna shivered at the way he slightly skimmed over her body. She held in a sigh of relief when she was stripped down to a modest shift, the rest of her clothes discarded on the floor.  

"Better?" The Doctor asked, pulling out pins and delicate jewels and ornaments out of her hair. She relaxed more easily when he combed his fingers through her loose red hair, rolling her head back as he massaged her a little. 

"Much," she purred, smiling as the Doctor continued his ministrations to her shoulders, making her sigh deeply and relax a little more. The hangover faded away as her muscles loosened, and Donna felt a pressure she didn't realize she was holding on to fall away. She realized she'd missed this kind of intimacy. Shaun had spoiled her, she supposed. He was never without a hand on her, even when they were just standing next to each other. Donna was never i to clingy, but she realized that she was used to being touched by a man. Well. Alien man. 

"So," he said casually, breaking through the awkward intimacy with his usual chatter. "How are we enjoying our jaunt to Elizabethan times, living the courtly life?" 

"Well, the first part was quite nice," Donna pointed out, her head still dropped backwards. "That was a lovely coronation ball, our best ever considering we were almost eaten by that dragon in the last one..." 

"Galahadian lizard, actually but yes, I do see why this was better," the Doctor noted, daring to press a little lower into her back. Donna swallowed thickly again when she remembered she was naked underneath, but tried to remain neutral.  

"The murder wasn't exactly pleasant--"

"Not usually part of the experience, no."

"I like Liz, though. She's a bit rough around the edges, but she's got her heart in the right place," Donna commented. Then she remembered the way Elizabeth looked at her at the ball and at the corridor. The way she confided in Donna and studied her. Donna's thoughts flew from the Doctor's touch as she pondered on this, continuing to do so when they lay in bed, painfully aware of each other. The Doctor snuffed out the candles and lay stock still. The warmth and electricity between them still hung in the air like static, and neither of them really knew what to do about it.

"Doctor," Donna said suddenly, her face partially illuminated in the dawn light that was creeping through the window. "I think...I think Queen Elizabeth fancies me." 

The Doctor guffawed and spluttered--if he had been drinking milk he would have made an impressive spit take. "What?" he asked incredulously. The static in the air suddenly fizzed out, and the moment was gone.

"I'm serious, Spaceman!" Donna exclaimed, turning to in bed to face him. She had her hands curled under her chin as she looked up at him, still with that steely, assertive determination in her eyes. "I've had blokes who fancied me before--they were exactly the same! None of them invited me to a ball, mind you, but they looked at me all funny, like they couldn't believe that they found me...attractive."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something. There were so many things he wanted to say that he wished he could blurt them out all at once. First, and most important, probably, that itwasn’t too crazy to think that someone would be attracted to her and so he highly doubted that these blokes who fancied her are too shocked. Second, who on Earth are these blokes because he would like to give them a good what for for looking at Donna all funny. C, how can Donna even tell? 

“Really Donna, just because Elizabeth looked at you funny once. Maybe because she noticed you were wearing her dress?” The Doctor asked, and Donna huffed and roleld away from him in the bed. 

“Nevermind then, I must be tired or something,” Donna dismissed, finally closing her eyes. The Doctor furrowed his brows and reached out for her, slipping his arm over her waist before her pulled her close to him just like old times. He sighed and breathed in Donna’s scent, and she felt her body relax as the sun started to rise. He felt time pass around them, and in his tired mind, he pulled back the flowing waters of time, building a small dam to pause at this moment, one that he missed more than he could understand. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Late the next morning, Donna woke up to the incessant sounds of someone pounding a fist at her bedroom door. This was a bit strange as the Doctor was never the knock politely sort of bloke, he liked walking into rooms like he owned the place--which he kind of did, in a sense.

Donna was about to yell at him to go away when something shifted against her and grumbled for her. She jumped slightly and the Doctor pulled her closer to himself, snuggling her like a teddy bear. He even had his long skinny leg clamped over hers! Donna wriggled to get away, suddenly stiff as a board when she realized that there was something else prodding her back.

The Doctor, superior Time Lord as he claimed to be, was apparently still just a bloke inside, the kind that still got stiffies in the morning.

"Lady Donna, Lord Doctor!" a voice called from the inside, pounding more insistently on the door. "Queen Elizabeth demands your presence immediately!"

_Right_ , Donna thought to herself, trying not to move too much as the Doctor continued to sleep against her. She made a mental recap of the events from the day before, taking stock of the room. She needed to get the Doctor off of her, wake him up and somehow manage to make themselves presentable to Queen Liz before the guard decide to break down their door.

Taking a deep breath, Donna stiffened her arms, turned in the spot (ignoring the way the little Doctor was almost in contact with her) and gave the Doctor an almighty shove backwards, so strong that he fell off the bed.

"Ow! Blimey you can push, Donna!" The Doctor exclaimed, rubbing his backside and yawning as he stood bolt upright. Donna stretched languidly in bed and blinked up innocently at him. Then she noticed him look at her legs and swallow thickly.

"Your...uhm...er..." the Doctor said, pointing at her bare legs. "Is showing..."

Donna could swear she saw his cock twitch a little in his trousers. She looked down to see what the Doctor had fussed over and she gasped. She hadn't realized that her shift rode up during the night, and she'd basically had her knickers on full display for the better part of the night.

"God!" She exclaimed, pulling down her clothes and scrambling out of bed as the guards knocking got louder and more insistent. The Doctor, seemingly unperturbed at the inappropriate state they were both in, marched towards the door and swung it open despite Donna's protests. There she was, standing by the window in a nearly see-through shift in just her knickers and no bra. There the Doctor was with his erection hanging out proudly in front of him. Donna wanted to die. The same guard who led them to the room the night before glanced briefly at Donna before giving his attention to the Doctor.

"Lord Doctor," he said, his voice a lot less loud and insistent now. "Her Majesty has asked me to summon you to the grounds. There's been another grotesque murder, and she requests your presence immediately."

"Right," the Doctor said, quickly crossing the room to grab his tie and jacket before walking over to the guard. He gave Donna a stern look. "Stay here," he said simply. Donna rolled her eyes.

"What am I supposed to do here, knit?" She said, like it was a dirty word. "Not letting you out of my sight for one second, Spaceman!"

"Donna, you can't walk around the castle like...that," the Doctor pointed out, indicating her gorgeous ginger locks tumbling over her shoulders, her slim body peeking out from under the shift and her bare toes. She was about to roar something in retort when the guard decided it was a good time to step in.

"Her Majesty has sent her Mistress of the Robes to assist Lady Donna," the guard pointed out, nodding to Donna. "She and her Majesty will join us when they are ready."

The Doctor and Donna exchanged a look, and this time it was Donna's turn to nod before the Doctor strode off with the guard.

"Be careful!" She yelled after him, and the Doctor started to walk backwards to give her a jaunty little wave and a wink. He still looked a little rumpled, with his coat and jacket in his hands, his feet barely inside his shoes and his hair a ruffled mess. His collar was also askew. God help her if Donna didn’t find it adorable.

Once they were out of hearing distance of the room, the guard regarded Elizabeth's new investigator. He was dressed strangely, and spoke utter nonsense. But if the Queen believed him, certainly he was inclined to do the same.

"You and your wife been married long, sir?" He asked the Doctor, trying to make casual conversation as they made their way to the body. The nonchalance around it all would have been amusing.

"Oh, she's not my wife," the Doctor said quickly, like he was used to saying it multiple times over. "Explains why you put us in the same room though, er...what's your name?"

"Patterson, sir. Wilfred Patterson of the Yeoman Guard," he said, standing a bit taller. "I'm sorry about the confusion, sir. I can arrange for Lady Donna to be put in another room."

"That won't be necessary, Wilfred old pal," the Doctor said, obviously delighted to meet another Wilfred. “Every Noble lady needs a guard, and I’m only too happy to fill in.”

“If you say so, sir,” Wilfred shrugged, walking on to the grounds in silence. The Doctor focused on putting on his clothes and shoes properly the rest of the way.

* * *

Donna stepped out of the screen, feeling nipped, tucked but finally clothed. The Mistress of the Robes, noble as she was, didn’t look too happy dressing someone other than the Queen (Donna was pretty sure there were rules about that somewhere), so had been a little rough on Donna, but in the end, she was fully dressed, so who cared? She looked down at her deep blue dress.

It was made of heavy velvet and brocade, and she was made to wear pearls. Donna had begged off of the silly neck brace thing--no need to give the Doctor another excuse to laugh at her, thank you!

“Oh you look beautiful,” Elizabeth commented mildly, standing from her seat behind a long table full of breakfast food. She came over to Donna and fussed slightly with her hair, slapping away the hands of the Mistress of the Robes and indicating her to leave the room. “I told them you and the Doctor were new members of court. Now the gossips will run through the country like wildfire. Ready to head out to the murder scene?”

“That’s a sentence I never thought I would hear you say,” Donna commented, plucking a danish from the massive array of food and following Elizabeth out of the dining hall.

As they walked, Donna observed the Queen of England a bit closer. She couldn't quite pin Liz's personality down--when faced with the Doctor she was demanding and playful to a point, in front of her subjects and staff she was bossy and brash, and to Donna, she was...not. If Elizabeth was a bloke, she would be a bloke who fancied Donna. How could the Doctor not notice that?

Donna matched Elizabeth's pace, pushing her way past the ladies in waiting and the guards so she walked alongside the Queen. Elizabeth's face turned into a steely mask of indifference, looping her arm around Donna's but keeping her head held high and forward. She glanced briefly at Donna's worried face.

"Did you manage to sleep well last night?" Elizabeth queried casually. "I was told that they put you and the Doctor in the same room, I hope it wasn't inconvenient."

"Yeah, fine," Donna said dismissively, not wanting to remember the events from early that morning, not because she didn't want to remember, but because it was hardly appropriate when they were investigating a murder, was it? "I wouldn't have let him out of my sight anyway, what with him being my ride home and all."

"Yes, I understand you're his...companion, but not his wife?" She asked, confused at the terminology. "I fail to see the distinction."

"Well..." Donna said carefully, trying to find the right words. "We're best mates, the Doctor and me. He takes me to these wonderful, scary, beautiful places, and I just keep up with him. I tell him everything, he tells me some important things and a lot of rubbish things," she chuckled at her own inside joke. "And I....I still trust him. With all my life," she said slowly, realizing that it was true. In spite of everything that had changed between them, nothing had changed at all about the way she felt for him, the way she saw him. "I would follow him and his flying box anywhere."

She still loved him.

"Doesn't seem much different from a husband and wife," Elizabeth said. "except that you don't...copulate with him."

Donna's eyes grew wide and shook her head vehemently."God no! No, no, we're not...no," she said finally, calming herself down. She was already quite impressed with herself by making it for this long in the conversation without flipping the flipping hell out. _I'M IN LOVE WITH THE DOCTOR!?!?!!!?_

Sensing her obvious panic and quick denial, Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed like it was the best news she's heard all day. She gripped Donna's arm tighter, her cheek dancing against the side of Donna's arm as she gave her a quick squeeze before resting her head on Donna's shoulder.

"Good," Elizabeth whispered simply, her bright red curls touching Donna's as they walked in this somewhat intimate position.

In the distance, Donna could just make out the Doctor's too skinny form standing with a large number of guards. Some of the nobles side eyed each other and whispered. Donna felt like she was in a middle of some bodice ripping historical drama, the kind where gossip could bring down monarchies and murderers were a usual occurrence.

Elizabeth's tug at Donna's arm helped her focus on what was happening, and they walked down to where the Doctor was, leaving the whispering gaggle behind them. The woman was obviously someone of rank and birth, if her dress and the number of rings and necklaces she had on was any indication. If Elizabeth knew her, she didn’t let it show. Her face was once again a cool mask of indifference, peeking high over her collar.

Close inspection of the body revealed it looked almost exactly the same as the night before. Nothing but skin was left behind, and shiny red blood oozed out of a nasty, jagged tear on top of the victim’s head. But the thing that terrified Donna the most about this victim was the fact that it was clear that their Melissa Majora mutation had a type.

“Ginger,” the Doctor said, not proudly, not badly, but just in a way that it was a fact. He was looking down at the body with his brows furrowed. “I’ve always wanted to be one, but now…not so much.”

“It has…a _type_?” Donna asked, jutting out her jaw to emphasize her worries. She suddenly felt more vulnerable to the danger that pressed against them. Sure she should be used to it by now, but the margins become smaller when there was a pattern, didn’t it?

“Well,” the Doctor said, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. “Kind of. There’s a special gene in human DNA that carries the rehead recessive gene, and I think that’s what the infecting bee from Melissa Majora is looking for. It’s likely that whoever’s doing this is trying to spread the mutation after finding out that it worked on them. 80% of the world’s population has the recessive gene for redheads, did you know that? 80% and still I’m not even the tiniest hint of ginger. Whereas you and Elizabeth…”

The Doctor trailed off mid-speech as he looked over at the two redheads beside him. More specifically, he was looking at the one in the blue dress, with wide brown eyes at the bosom that was heaving underneath the strain of the corset. Of course he’d seen her face, painted to perfection—he rather preferred her looking like she just woke up to be honest, but this was lovely too.

“Ehm…” he said, still looking. “Donna, you’re…wow.”

“What, so we’re looking for a vampire bee that chews scalps off of ginger people?” She summarized, and the Doctor blinked, rubbing his hands over his eyes like Donna’s bosoms had burned them.  

“No, well, yes, but no,” the Doctor said, striding away from where he was standing, his coat billowing around him as he squatted towards the poor girl’s head. “Not a vampire, not at all. Possibly a Queen Majoran that migrated here and is using a human host body to lay her eggs. The bees have adopted the Serfian method of reproduction, laying as many eggs as possible inside human bodies with ginger DNA. When they hatch…this happens.” He indicated the body. “Fascinating, isn’t it? Wonderful creatures, bees, anything for the colony to survive!” 

The look on Elizabeth’s face made it clear that ‘fascinating’ was the last thing she thought this was.

“This woman was a noble, a member of my court,” she said. “If you are correct, Doctor, that this…creature is using a human body, then we are looking for a murderer, plain and simple.” 

The look on the Doctor’s face made it clear that ‘plain and simple’ was the last thing he thought it was. His face darkened considerably, and he gave Elizabeth such a cold and steely glare that she felt it inside all her petticoats. As if to annoy him even more, she grasped for Donna’s arm again, and pulled her close. Donna smiled good-naturedly at the Queen.

“If there’s nothing else, Doctor,” Queen Elizabeth said, nodding at the guard to take away the body. “I have a few affairs to discuss with Donna while I take my morning constitutional. Then I expect there to be updates on this gruesome affair by the evening. It is the first day of my reign, Doctor, and I shall not have that happy news usurped by a bee.” 

Then, smiling at the Doctor like she’d been the kindest soul in the world, Elizabeth turned and walked away, taking Donna with her. Donna, in turn, whipped her head around to look at the Doctor’s extremely annoyed face, his jaw set in a hard line as he continued to glare at her. It was more likely at this point that the Doctor have Elizabeth’s head cut off before she did him.

* * *

Donna paced across the room, her feet occasionally getting tangled in what she is pretty sure is a bearskin rug. How posh. The whole day she had shadowed Elizabeth, for reasons that seemed to be oblivious to everyone but Donna. In the middle of all the stately things they did (half of which Donna didn’t understand and she had to admit she missed the Doctor’s incessant babbling in the din), she wanted to yell to the watching public that QUEEN ELIZABETH FANCIES ME AND I FANCY AN ALIEN!

She noticed she’d been doing a lot of internal screaming these days. It was something right out of the loony pages, and it surprised her that she still wasn’t used to it, and Donna was a temp by profession. Quickly adjusting to situations was key in her work.

While Donna was used to adoration (even that was just something she told herself), clearly she wasn’t used to it coming from a member of the royal family. Elizabeth had Donna parked right next to her, not letting her speak to anyone, but clearly letting them know that she was there. Like a flipping piece of furniture!

Donna would not have taken that lying down, but she knew all too well that Elizabeth could simply decide to chop her head off, and she was very proud of her head, thank you very much.

By the afternoon, her name and the Doctor’s were whispered across the halls of the Tower—the mysterious nobles who had the new Queen’s ultimate favor. Add that to the increased chances of someone filling her with Majoran Bee eggs and making her head explode, Donna had every reason to feel just a tad agitated.

Which was why she was in the room right after they had their supper, out of her formal dress, with her hair down. For the first time in the day, Donna felt like she could breathe. She flopped backwards into the bed and rolled around the sheets, grabbing one of the pillows and burying her face in it. She was surprised to find that it actually smelled like the Doctor. She hugged it closer to herself like a secret.

“You are a daft, stupid Martian. A pillock and and a twat, but I love you anyway,” she sighed, admitting defeat in the face of true affection. “But how am I gonna tell you, eh?”

Suddenly the doors to the room swung open and the Doctor flounced in, his coat still billowing around him. There was a light sheen of rain on his head and on the tops of his coat, even if Donna didn’t remember that it rained today. He looked at Donna, his eyes wide and slightly panicked, breathing hard like he’d run a marathon. The Doctor was a man in constant motion, and now he’d just realized how to stop.

“Donna!” he exclaimed, his face split with searing grin when he spotted her looking up at him from the bed. “There you are, molto bene! Come on, I'll show you this thing I invented—not quite sure if it will detect the Majoran Queen, but it does make a funny little noise every ten paces, something like a cross between a bullfrog and a burp, you'll love it!"

The look on Donna's face made it clear that 'love' was the last thing she was going to be about this new alien thingamy the Doctor had invented.

But she sat up in bed, crossing her legs indian style and frowned up at the Doctor. "Spaceman," she said slowly, not quite sure how to tell him. "Something's happened. I know you're not gonna like it, but I can't not tell you? And I'm sure, so nothing you say is going to make me back out, okay?"

The Doctor's expressive eyebrows furrowed as his hands jammed themselves into his pockets. Donna loved that she knew all his quirks and stances, she was sure she could pull off a pretty good impression of him if pressed. But at the same time, knowing him, she already knew that he wasn't going to like this, not one bit.

"What did you do?" he asked, extending his vowels, the way her mother did when she was trying to egg the truth out of Donna. Oh she didn't appreciate that tone at all.

"Oi, don't treat me like I'm a kid with the hand in the biccy tin," she snapped at him in warning. "I might not...feel the same as I did...before." She said, already seeing in the way his face dropped and paled that she was mucking this up completely. "About...well, you and me."

"Donna..."

"No, wait, it's not what you think!" Donna exclaimed, covering her face with her hands to cover up the embarrassment and shame.

Now that she thought about it, she'd never been in this position before.When she was younger, love wasn't something she considered. Boys were meant to be played with and dangled on strings. Chasing her was the idea.

As she got older, the less important true love became, and it was now more of a checklist of which husband-like qualities the guy in front of her filled. Lance had checked out fine, and Shaun even more so, but there was always something that kept them at a distance to Donna.

But now, even as she looked up at the Doctor's stricken face, something pulled deep inside her towards him. He was the sun, a blazing star she was locked in orbit to, and whether he chose to pull her close and pushed her away, she couldn't bear to live without his warm light. Was that love?

"I just...you know when I said that I..." She started, but each aborted sentence just felt wrong wrong wrong. Donna huffed in frustration and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh sod it," she said, shaking her hair away from her face. "Let's just do this."

Then, just like she would do in the 1920s, Donna pulled the Doctor towards her and slammed her lips against his, her hands grabbing at his face to keep his face steady. The effect was instantaneous. Clouds of static built between them and sent little fissions of pleasure up to their spines. Their brains flooded with endorphins and dopamine and serotonin, and Donna suddenly realized that the Doctor was pushing back, his hands gripping her waist to pull her closer as his tongue slipped across her lips and into her mouth. He might have swayed backwards by Donna's force, but an object that's been pushed into motion comes into motion as well.

Finally when Donna's lungs felt like they were about to explode for lack of air, she let go of his face and stepped back, panting as she studied his awestruck expression. She half expected black smoke to puff out of his mouth. She also half expected he would start flapping his gob about how brilliant this was or what, but the Doctor was uncharacteristically speechless.

"Oh my god," she said, her palms on the sides of her face as she realized that he STILL HADN'T SAID A WORD. "You don't want this."

Then it was his turn to collide with her, taking Donna into his arms, his lips so rough and insistent like he was trying to burn the kiss into her very soul. His skin felt cooler as she felt heat prickle her skin, when his hands skimmed over her throat and he placed a kiss where her pulse was racing.

"What, getting you back wasn't enough?" He chuckled, his lips rumbling against her heated skin as his wonderful, dextrous hands drew little circles on her waist. "i love you Donna Noble. It bears repeating."

"I don't hear you saying it again, though," Donna let her head drop back as she laughed. It could also be because the Doctor's nose was brushing against the tops of her breasts and he might have licked over her cotton shift. "Go on then."

He looked up from his position and his eyes were twinkling. Like fire and starlight, this was an alien who was very happy indeed. That was all Donna ever really wanted for him. And if that meant being with her, then was the lucky one. He felt exactly the same a out her. Of all the convergences and coincidences and destinies, there she was, in his arms at last. So it bears repeating.

"I love you, Donna Noble," his voice dropped, and it was enough to send a blaze of heat through her body.

She captured him in a kiss, tugging off his coat, his jacket and his tie. His plimsolls sailed off somewhere in the room, as did his shirt, pants and trousers. Donna was nothing if not persistent. The Doctor wanted to say something, to tell her to slow down and savor the moment, but he knew it just wasn't her style.

_We have all the time in the world_ , he thought, planting kisses along her jaw, making her sigh. Then with the same insistence and precision, Donna was naked and sliding herself on top of the Doctor.

Something inside her head clicked, like errant pieces of herself had finally become whole again. Oxytocin flooded the Doctor's brain, and he yelled out her name in three different Gallifreyan dialects. He thrust up, she pushed down, and the world melted away, burned up and froze over around them. Donna felt like she was swimming, unable to speak anything more but the dirtiest words in her vocabulary. He filled her, adored her, and when he finally felt her orgasm explode through her, he followed faithfully, not letting her go. Donna was giggling as she flipped her bright ginger hair over her shoulder. He could watch her do that all day. He placed a languid, sleepy kiss on her lips and she tumbled down beside him, boneless and very happy.Thank god they were both cuddlers.

"I just shagged an alien," she said, whispering in the dim light of the room. Their candles had snuffed out after their breathy gasps and sighs. The Doctor chuckled, running a hand idly up and down the side of Donna 's waist.

"Yes you did," he said in a low voice, and Donna swatted his chest lightly. She could get used to this. It was like some twist inside her had finally uncoiled, and for the first time since the Doctor found her again, she felt like her old self again. No, even better. Maybe she would never believe it when she was called the Most Important Woman in Creation, but as long as the Doctor believed it, then she would be happy.

He was muttering something in Spanish, switching occasionally to English for her benefit. "I love you without knowing how, or when or from where," he said, his words drifting in the cool English night. "I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this. Where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest," he said, taking Donna's hand on his chest and kissed the back of her palm. "is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep."

Donna laughed when his finger, tracing circles on her side, slid across to her stomach. she wondered what he was writing. Something in Gallifreyan no doubt, but she had no idea what. She's seen him write in it before, sometimes their grocery list was in the swirly, circular writing. For all Donna knew he was writing one on her.

"Never pegged you as a poetry-spouting guy," she quipped. "Not the romantic sort, either."

"Full of surprises, me," he said, giving her a smug little smile. "Neruda took all the credit, but I gave him the idea. Did you see him? Not everyone's favorite face, Neruda. He was my Cyrano. Wrote all the love poems for my eighth regeneration, I was quite the cad."

"Shut it you," Donna chided, swatting him again. "I still don't believe half the things you say. Plus I've had your mind inside mine. I know what actually happened. Or at least I did."

The mention of the metacrisis thickened the air around them, just one of the many pink elephants in the room (one in particular was stuck in a parallel world). They would have to not talk about that eventually, but for now, they both chose to ignore it.

"I heard Elizabeth paraded you around court," the Doctor said, his tone dark. Once again, Donna was more worried that he would do something to Elizabeth rather than the other way around. Perhaps she would only be acting in self-defense?

"It wasn't a pleasant experience, I'll tell you that much," Donna sighed. She was made for shouting, and to sit still in any attitude for too long just wasn't her. "I think she was tying to make a point, but it feels weird, not knowing what it is."

"Well, the sooner we can leave, the better," the Doctor concluded. "Once we find the Majoran Queen, we're off to the sand dunes of Kalimoorina. Brilliant sand they have there, it's purple and doesn't stick to your toes, and when the moonlight hits it just right..." He smacked his lips against his fingers like an Italian. "Molto bene. The Diamond Dunes, they call it."

"Sounds amazing," Donna admitted, yawning hugely and wrapping her leg over his. She curled up closer to him as her eyes began to flutter. "As long as we don't get it up our bums..."

"No, Donna, I told you, it's...and you're asleep," the Doctor said, speaking to no one as he looked down at Donna breathing evenly in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and fell asleep soon after.


	4. Chapter 4

Donna had no idea what she was eating. Food of various smells, colors and textures were being piled in neat portions on her plate, and all she could do was smile and pick at it. She was pretty sure one of those things were egg-based, but one can never be too careful when traveling through time and space. Where was a good old bacon sarnie when you needed one?

She was also aware that the entire room of servants, guards and staff were watching her and the Doctor's every move. They were having breakfast with Elizabeth, and apparently they were the only nobles who had ever been invited for such an honor. Donna knew that this statement was neither meant to be flattering or kind. England (or at least what felt like it) was getting ‘highly concerned’ that Elizabeth was openly favoring two virtually unknown nobles with no political fealties, no lands of note and (even scarier), actually made Elizabeth laugh.

The guards of the Tower had been true to their word and kept the murders quiet, but it only served to make others more suspicious of Elizabeth’s new investigators. Donna could hear Chinese whispers following her around whenever she walked the Tower’s stone corridors, the Doctor always by her side. The only good thing about breakfast was that Donna and the Doctor currently had a friendly little bet going on, and it was all dependent on the monarch sitting at the head of the table.

Earlier that day…

"Don-na," The Doctor had whined, pulling on his trousers after the guards knocked on their door to summon them to breakfast. "Don't you think it's just a bit more likely that Elizabeth would fancy me? I mean, she generally hates me, which as I recall, was the same tactic one of us used to get me into bed..."

A pillow sailed across the room and hit him right in the face, knocking him to the floor and causing very expensive goose feathers flying everywhere. Donna, her hair mussed, down and loose in ringlets, was wrapped up in a bedsheet. She laughed at him. He blinked up at her, watching as she stood by the window again. What was it about gingers that just made them so beautiful?

"Donna you're..." He said, his respiratory bypass kicking in to make up for his hammering hearts. "Beautiful."

The lady doth protested too much by laughing as loud as she possibly could. There he was, her Spaceman (oh, she was ready and willing to call him hers while it lasted), his long legs halfway into a pair of trousers, his hair askew and his bare skinny chest out on full display. If he was any other bloke, Donna was certain the appeal would have been lost on her. "

You're not as foxy as you think you look, Doctor," she told him, grabbing her clothes from the nearby chair slipping her shift quickly over her body. "I still think you got some sort of love pheromone into my head when I got your big 'ol Time Lord mind."

"Oh really?" The Doctor challenged, hopping over to her with his button up shirt flapping around him and halfway unto his left shoe. Then he kissed Donna full on the lips, making her jump but melt slightly into it, her hands naturally pulling him closer. She wasn’t surprised that he was a good kisser, to the point that she thought it was absolutely unfair. But she was just too engrossed with kissing his stupid alien face to really think more about it. In fact, if pressed, she would admit that she loved it. Not that she was going to tell him that. When they parted, she saw him looking at her with his smug smile like she had just proved his point.

“You were saying?” He asked her.

"You twat!" She exclaimed, swatting him on the arm and making him recoil in pain. But they were both laughing anyway. The guards knocked on their door again, one of the handmaidens Elizabeth had assigned to Donna gently reminded them that the Queen was not to be kept waiting for her breakfast.

“Alright alright, keep your knickers on, eh?” The Doctor yelled back through the door, shaking his head. She could tell that the danger they had put themselves in made him nervous. She had to find a way to get his mind off of things, even for a little while.

"What do you say to making things a little bit more interesting, hm?" Donna challenged, shimmying her dress over her body. The Doctor resumed dressing up but kept his eyes trained solely on her. "A friendly wager for the Queen's affections?"

"I've never said no to a pretty face," the Doctor said, stepping forward and lacing her up like he had been doing it all his life. His eyes flickered briefly to Donna’s slightly swollen lips when she turned her head up at him. "Welll....'cept maybe Helen of Troy, and she was very hard to say no to.”

"Alright then," Donna said, ignoring him as he crossed the room to retrieve his long coat. “At breakfast, whoever the Queen gives food to first is the one she really fancies, and will be the winner.”

The Doctor smiled, now fully dressed with a smile on the side of his lips and his hands on his pockets as he sauntered over to Donna.

"And what does the winner get?" He asked in a low voice, his forehead pressing against Donna's and kissing her lips again. "Bragging rights?"

"How about a choice of destination?" Donna asked, determined not to be distracted by the Doctor's dark brown eyes. "I'm still due a proper beach holiday, you know."

"You've got yourself a deal, milady," the Doctor said, pulling her into his arms for another kiss. This time Donna didn't even bother to resist anymore.

At breakfast…

Elizabeth glanced at her two guests with an air of being unamused as she bit on the edge of her eggs. Like her eggs, she felt too salty, too tired and slightly overcooked. There was obviously something new between her guests, and it irked Elizabeth that it didn't include her.As someone who was wrapping her head around being the Queen of bloody England, Elizabeth was pretty sure she was supposed know everything that went on inside her kingdom.

She glanced at the Doctor, happily nattering away in between bites of his food. He reminded her a lot of a young boy she'd seen when she was young. He always had a bit of dirt on his nose, but was just too happy to care when he was running along the banks of the Thames. Of course Elizabeth had never spoken to him, she had been locked in this very Tower at the time, but the memory was there. Funny the things she could remember.

"Doctor," she said, suddenly grabbing the attention of both him and his companion. "Any progress in your investigation? My patience is wearing thin."

She commanded him because it was her right, and did so because that was the only way she knew she would be heard. If there was anything she learned from her father, it was that. She was still a woman, and there were still those who felt that despite being the sovereign, having a flaccid penis between their legs made them better.

Not this Doctor, apparently.

"Right, on to it then," he said, about to say more when he spotted a plate of figs by Elizabeth's arm. He gave Donna a wicked grin and smiled sweetly over the Queen. "Er....Liz, could you pass me those figs? Ow!"He suddenly exclaimed, wincing in pain as Donna shot him a look of pure murder. Even Elizabeth had felt it when her long leg shot out from the table to kick the Doctor in the shins. Yes, something had definitely changed between these two travelers. Elizabeth couldn't quite explain why that irked her so much.

"Nevermind the figs, I just remembered I was allergic!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Elizabeth huffed to show her dissatisfaction. She threw the Doctor a downright murderous glare. If this alien from another planet didn’t tell her who was killing off all the gingers in her castle she was going to have to snog his face off, have him beheaded and dance over his bloody grave. Not that Elizabeth was going to say that out loud, of course.

“Anyway,” Donna singsonged, diverting the room’s attention once again. “Back to the murders?” 

“The murders? Oh, yes, the parasitic hatching cycle of the bees from Melissa Majora!” the Doctor exclaimed, scrambling out of his chair. Like the boy from Elizabeth’s memory, he had a smidgen of dirt on his nose, stuck to his face as he paced in thought. “Sorry, slipped my mind for a moment, it must be all this food, and maybe you could pass me the—no? Nevermind then.”

Elizabeth was sure she caught Donna in the middle of a massive eye roll when the Doctor finally got to the point.

“I’ve been talking to the gardeners,” the Doctor said. “Not a really chatty bunch, but as soon as I mentioned the bees they got worried. Too many, bees, they insisted. Did you notice that there’s a whole section of the grounds that they don’t even visit anymore?”

“The head groundskeeper told me that it wasn’t a part of his job,” Elizabeth pointed out, frowning. “I thought it was one of those technicalities that came with the new position.”

“What’s wrong with too many bees?” Donna asked, resting her elbow on the table and chewing on a piece of bread. Elizabeth glanced at her again before turning to the Doctor who had a serious look on his face.

“Too many bees means that there is now more than one queen,” the Doctor said, his eyes brimming with a darkness that Donna wasn’t quite ready for. She swallowed. “On average, a queen bee from Melissa Majora can produce up to a hundred bees in her life cycle. The grounds now house at least five hundred. Our Prime Queen, the infested human, has four minor queens that produced the swarm. They're harmless pf course, but since they've been using humans as incubators, they've turned parasitic. Majorans aren’t parasites by nature, but they’re desperate to increase their numbers, and I think you and I both know why, Donna.” 

“What? Why?"

"The last time we encountered the bees from Melissa Majora, what were they doing?"

"Looking for their lost world…” Donna said, her voice trailing off as she remembered the missing bees from before. “But they got it back, didn’t they? Pretty sure when we saved all of creation, it included them.” 

“I don’t think this Prime Queen got the memo,” the Doctor surmised. “According to the regular lifespan of a Majoran bee, she’s old and dying. And I think she’s trying to find someone to take over her throne.”  He glanced over at Elizabeth, whose gaze remained steely and firm. “I have reason to believe that the queen is still in the Tower, Elizabeth. You’re the only person who can gather everyone together. I’ve been studying the bodies and the eggs that they’ve left. Once the queen has planted the eggs into her host, their human body temperature and regular blood flow is enough to nourish the eggs until they are ready to hatch.” 

“Oh god,” Donna said, putting her hand over her mouth and trying her hardest not to throw up. “Thanks for ruining my appetite, Doctor.” 

“Here, have some candied lemons,” Elizabeth said, passing Donna the bowl full of fruit slices. Donna’s eyes widened like Elizabeth had offered her something explosive, but took the bowl anyway. She schooled her face into a smile and picked up a lemon to suck. Then she looked to the Doctor with her own brand of smug. Elizabeth didn’t miss the Doctor roll his eyes and his head to show his mock annoyance. Something had definitely changed between these two.

“Are you trying to say that this…queen,” Elizabeth said, “is trying to hatch her eggs inside me?” 

“If you’ve come in contact with her, it’s possible you have her eggs already,” the Doctor said, frowning.

"What?! But Doctor, you and I have been here since..." Donna said, her voice trailing off. He shook his head at her.

“I’ve kept you in the room with me, and have never left your side. Nobody has been in contact with you without my knowing.” 

“Well isn’t that just bloody convenient, then?” Elizabeth seethed, standing up. She wondered if she felt any different. Would she not know if there were bee eggs inside her already? “You’ve deliberately protected Donna over me, your sovereign! That would be considered treasonous, Doctor!”

“Lucky you’re not my sovereign, Liz.”

In a fit of rage, Elizabeth threw all the dishes in front of her to the floor, sweeping them from the table with her hands. She glowered at the Doctor, who simply glared back at her. Donna’s eyes grew wide with fear at this exchange. The Doctor had chosen to protect her instead of the Queen, and Donna hadn’t been able to stop him. She was suddenly aware of all the guards and servants in the room, whispering at each other, waiting for their queen to order the Doctor’s capture.

“Doctor,” Donna said in warning, making both the Doctor and the Queen turn to her, as if they had forgotten that she was in the room to begin with. “What do you suggest we do then?”

“I need the TARDIS to formulate a cure,” the Doctor said, his expression unchanged. “And we have to find the prime Queen.”

"That's your plan?" Elizabeth asked incredulously. She was used to plans with formations, numbers of men going in specific directions. This was no plan.

"Never go anywhere with a plan," the Doctor said with a shrug, his expression immediately softening. "It's worked for me pretty well, so far."

"Yeah, we've only been sent to prison once or twice," Donna said sarcastically. Although the sentiment was made with an air of humor, Elizabeth saw right through that. She needed to take a stand. She was Queen, after all. Fighting another kingdom, insectoid or not, was part of her job. 

“I will tell you what we are going to do,” Elizabeth said, striding over the table with her eyes still blazing. “We will assemble every body inside this Tower, and we will not rest until we find this queen. I will arrange for the return of your…box,” she said. Her gaze flickered towards Donna, who was now standing as well. “And Donna will face the assembly as my decoy.” 

“What?” The Doctor asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.

“WHAT?” Donna practically screamed.

“What, will you back out now, Donna, in my hour of need?” Elizabeth asked, turning to Donna. She knew she was being selfish, she knew she was being cruel. But she was angry, didn’t she see that? The Doctor had chosen to protect Donna over her, and he had to be punished for that. Even if it put Donna in danger.

“Elizabeth, you can’t ask her to do that,” the Doctor said. “And I will never allow it.” 

For once, the Queen felt she had the leg over the Doctor. With a twist of her head, she tossed him a defiant look.

"Watch me."

The storm that brewed in the Doctor's eyes was unmistakeable. Donna felt something grip her insides in fear, not of her situation, but of the Doctor. She was back in her wedding dress underneath the Thames, rain and fire and rage blowing through her. She remembered cowering in fear of the Doctor as the Racnoss queen screamed.

"You can stop now!" Donna heard herself say.

"Donna, we're leaving," the Doctor said. "I could care less what happens to you, Elizabeth. I have torn apart universes and broken the rules of time for Donna, and I am not going to willingly put her in harm's way because of your bruised ego."

"We're not leaving," Donna said just as firmly. Making Elizabeth and the Doctor turn to her again.

"They need that cure," She said. "And if Elizabeth dies, what happens? A new timeline? I may end up never having existed at all! We can't just leave them, that's not what we do!"

"Donna..."

"Doctor."

Just like that, the decision was made.

* * *

 When the Doctor stormed out of the dining room at the promise of the return of the TARDIS, Donna bid Elizabeth goodbye and followed him into their bedroom. He didn't say a word to her until Donna closed the door behind her. She saw the slump to his shoulders, his hands balled into fists. She wanted to go over him, wrap her arms around his skinny waist until he relaxed and softened, but that wasn't what he needed.

"It's always something, isn't it?" He asked, turning his head slightly to her. "Ever since I lost Gallifrey, it's always been....something. Whenever I find something that makes me...it slips away."

He takes her hand, and she lets him, squeezing it.

"I haven't gone yet," she said, smiling as she kisses the top of his hand. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Spaceman. I should know."

"But you will, one day," he said sadly, like she wasn't even there anymore "I told Rose, no such thing as forever. It may not be when you impersonate the Queen of England, but it's going to be something. So why should I..."

Something clamped at Donna when he dropped her hand. Was it anger? Fear? Donna couldn't resist the urge to slap him across the face. He recoiled slightly. She grabbed his face into her hands, seeing the shock and terror in his eyes.

"I'm still here!" She practically yelled at him, willing him to see her and recognize that. "Even if it lasts or not, I'm still here, and I love you, and I'm not going to leave you! My dad died, my Gran too. It only becomes worth the agony because you loved them as much as you could for as long as you could!"

God, when did they become so dramatic? who knew that telling someone how much you loved them was so difficult? "

Don't throw me away," she said gently, as his eyes finally seemed to focus on her. "Make this count."

This time she was the one who bent forward, and his teeth nearly smashed into hers at the force of the kiss. Donna was tossed into his momentum, and she spun around in his arms, her hair billowed out and brushed against his shoulder. The Doctor's hands gripped her waist like she would slip away.

Their kiss deepened, and Donna's fingers caressed the sides of his face before they settled over the twin beats of his hearts. She was panting, and the Doctor pressed his forehead against hers. He planted warm, wet kisses along her neck, making her sigh and lift her neck to allow him more access to her throat.

"Turn around," he said, his voice rumbled into the shell of her ear, and Donna acquiesced, letting out a sigh of relief when his fingers deftly pulled apart the laces on her back, her dress fell to the floor in a pool of silk and brocade. The Doctor kicked the dress aside, and Donna turned again, pulling off his tie, his coat, his jacket. Her hand may have slid into his trousers for a second, but the Doctor was pretty sure he had just imagined that. Or maybe Donna had managed to release a psychic projection i to his mind, which was kind of impossible...wasn't it?

And Donna had to admit, his arousal was pretty impressive, the way it struggled against the inseam of his pinstriped pants. Giggling like a teenager, she ground herself against the Doctor, making his legs flail slightly, while he said something that definitely wasn't English anymore.

"You're cold," Donna commented, sliding her cold hands under his shirt, making him yelp when her fingers flicked over his nipples. She laughed again. The Doctor may be a sex god when they came down to it, but she loved him most when he couldn't seem to believe that this was happening.

"You're so hot," he mumbled, sucking at her bottom lip as they kissed again. This fingers found the top of her ridiculous shift, and he pulled at the tie in front, revealing his cleavage fully to him. "Oh hello, my bosom buddies!"

"Oi, less talking, more shagging," Donna breathed, feeling her cheeks get hot as the Doctor's errant hand cupped her bottom.

"As you wish, milady," he teased, and licked a stripe along the space between her breasts. His hands found her slightly hardened nipples through the thin fabric of her shift, and started teasing them, making Donna sigh with breathless gasps. The Doctor continued to lick and kiss intricate patterns and galaxies onto her body. In one quick movement, he grabbed the opening of the shift on Donna's chest and pulled, the fabric making a strangled cry as it tore apart. Donna was pretty sure she'd cried out too.

The Doctor threw off his shoes, socks and trousers, pulling on Donna's hand to lead her to the chaise lounge in their room. She kissed his hand, feeling like her nipples could cut glass. But a rush of desire flooded her at the sight of the Doctor's eyes. He was looking at her like he was awestruck, amazed. How could anyone look at her like that?

"Don't hide away, Donna," he said, sitting back on the chair to pull her on top of him. "We'll make this count."

Then she positioned herself over him, her calves straddling his thighs. The Doctor kissed her again, his hands sliding down her spine before he pulled her down to him. Donna gasped at the sensation of being filled, moving her hips slightly to allow him to go deeper.

"Oh my--" she said, as the Doctor's faced twisted into the same expression of pleasure. "Fuck!"

It almost served as a command for the Doctor as he pulled his hips back as far as he could, Donna facilitated by taking control of the situation. She eased herself down again, clenching her thighs and making the Doctor groan. He grasped for her breast as Donna slowly established a rhythm between them. His hand had an iron grip on her waist as she undulated her hips, her inner muscles contracting when the Doctor hit the perfect spot.

Never just a bystander, the Doctor slid down the lounge until Donna was completely on top of him, their sweat and breathy moans mixing together. She gave a shout as her orgasm whipped through her, falling forward to the Doctor's chest. But he wasn't done yet. He lifted his hips to meet the erratic movements of Donna's fevered spasms. He pulled out the hand that was crushed underneath her breast and his hand, and put it to good use by sliding it between Donna's moist folds. He had never been this close to a human before, to anyone, really, not since...

It was at the end of that thought that he suddenly found himself falling over a precipice he didn't even know he had been standing on. He cursed Lord Presidents and Time Lord gods that no longer existed as he spilled himself inside Donna. She was evoking the same sentiments of other deities, her insides rippling from the released band of pressure that snapped inside her a second time.

Donna collapsed completely on top of him, letting the Doctor stroke her bright red hair as she started to cool down. His strange ambient temperature was like a balm to her raw and sweaty body, and she smiled as she rolled to his side, her leg clamped over his. She was already falling asleep by the time the Doctor caressed a finger over the bridge of her nose.

"I won that bet, by the way," she mumbled, burying her face into his neck. "Told you she fancied me."

"How could she not?" She Doctor asked, smiling wryly. "You're brilliant."

"Shut up, Spaceman, " she snapped, finally asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Elizabeth had arranged the assembly for that evening. After a few hours of sleeping off a post-coital haze, guards, servants and handmaidens had burst into their tiny bedroom, pulling Donna off of the Doctor and throwing a considerable pile of clothes over her. They both yelled and screamed at the mob that had them in their clutches. The Doctor, clad only in a bed sheet he managed to pull off of the bed, used his skinny limbs to shove off handmaidens and guards, knocking over a basin of water and washcloth as he made his way to Donna. 

"Oi, get your paws off of me, I can dress myself!" Donna was yelling, and the sound of her voice guided him to her. The Doctor quickly grabbed her shoulders and looked into her wide, terrified eyes. She wanted him to say something, he knew. A plan to get them out of this, maybe? But how? 

But suddenly, her wide eyed fear turned into a clam, cool and collected gaze. It was as if Donna was channeling Elizabeth I herself. A dress of gold brocade and silk was already placed on her, petticoats fanning around her in a massive arc. Anyone would mistake her for the Queen.She smiled at the Doctor and squeezed his hand, and now, he realized, it was his turn to look terrified.

"You're still naked," she pointed put to him, playfully tugging at the sheet wrapped haphazardly around him. 

"Oh yes," the Doctor chuckled. His expression shifted, back to that sad look he always wore when someone was forced to do something for him. He still didn't think he deserved that, brilliant as he claimed to be. "Donna..."

"Don't worry about me," Donna reassured him, brushing his cheek with her fingers. She wore a smile that could fool anyone. "Just get to work on that cure. This is what we do, Doctor. We help people."

"I'll come back for you, I promise," he said. He handed Donna a small gadget. "Keep this close by. It's an olfactory reproducer that releases Majoran hormones into the air. Make her angry enough and the Prime Queen won't be able to resist it. If she transforms, it will release a k-wave of psionic energy that will trigger a teleport after thirty seconds, which is rubbish, but it's all I could do," he slapped a wristwatch-like device on her arm, "and it will take me to you right away, wherever I am." 

"Not a lot of that made sense," she pointed out to him, burying the reproducer in the bodice of her dress and tucking the device over the sleeve of her dress. "All I know is that you'll come when I call, just as you should."

"I am to please, your highness," the Doctor joked, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Nothing will happen to you," he said as she was already being pulled out the door. "Donna! I promise!"

The last thing he saw of Donna was a smile before she tossed her bright red hair and was led away to the Queen's chambers. The Doctor felt a giant rock drop into his stomach, his heartbeats rising as adrenaline rushed through his system. He needed the TARDIS. Find a cure, stop the Majoran parasitic cycle, take Donna and leave Elizabethan England behind. Just another place that he would _never_ want to visit again. If that meant becoming Elizabeth I's greatest enemy, the the Doctor found that he didn't really care.   

He dressed himself quickly, pulling on his coat and checking the room for anything he might have left behind. He activated his end of the detector as Queen Elizabeth I, dressed down in more demure robes, took Donna's place in the room. The Doctor schooled his face into something hard and angry. Elizabeth pretended not to see it. 

"I have arranged for your box to be delivered to the balcony of the assembly hall," she said, smiling like she was talking about the weather and not a time and space machine. "That way it will be easier for you to administer whatever potion or cure you desire. I will be with Donna as her handmaiden to coach her speech."

"I wouldn't recommend it," the Doctor said immediately. "If you already have the eggs in your system, close proximity to the prime queen and the k-wave from the reproducer can cause the eggs to hatch."

"She needs someone up there with her, or she will break," Elizabeth said. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that you're the only one who cares for her, Doctor. Had I not been who I am, I would have...count yourself the most fortunate being in the universe, Doctor, to have the affection of Donna."

Her face softened slightly then, but Elizabeth shook her head and resumed protocol. "But if anything happens to me, Doctor," she took in a huge breath, like what she was about to say was killing her. "The members of court who know her true identity will not hesitate to have Donna locked in the Tower."

The Doctor clenched his fists as anger flickered in his eyes. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid when they stepped out of the TARDIS. Tyrants, infections. Disease, you name it.

"That is pathetic, Elizabeth, and you know it," the Doctor said, his words cold. "You claim to love someone and yet you willingly put her in harm's way, using her as a shield. You're not going there to coach her, you're going there to ease your own guilt for being cruel. But know this, Queen Elizabeth I," he said, spitting out each title like it was a horrible curse. "Donna Noble is more important than you will ever be. There are planets and worlds out there that sing her praises, Melissa Majora included, saved and alive because of her. Timelines converge on her, and her existence is more of a fixed point in time than your or any of your successors will ever achieve. If anything happens to her, the universe will not be forgiving. I will make sure of that."

Then he strode forward, leaving Elizabeth in the room with her own guilt eating away at her. She had never known a love so strong that it defied rank and power, one that made a person risk their life for the other. It was terrifying. 

She turned to the handmaiden waiting by the door."I'm going to need your robes." 

* * *

Donna stood behind an old door, her heart racing inside the bodice of her dress. She could feel the teleport on her wrist release an occasional haptic whirr as it waited for the trigger for the teleport. That little buzz was her lifeline, and Donna focused on it to keep herself calm. 

Beside her, Elizabeth lowered the hood of her cloak and smiled softly (was she apologetic?). She took Donna's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. 

"I'll be right beside you if you need me," Elizabeth whispered to her. They could hear the entire English court murmuring and muttering on the other side of the door. Someone in there was an alien life form that wanted to kill them all. Donna seriously doubted that the Queen of England could do anything about that.

"Thanks," she said simply, smiling before Elizabeth tentatively kissed the back of her hand. She blushed, as did Donna. Her jaw dropped, and she was just about to say something when Elizabeth's entrance was announced by the blare of trumpets.  

"That's my cue," Donna said weakly. Liz raised her hood again, only her red curls showing. 

"Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth the First!" 

With a prod from the Queen, Donna stepped out into the room with her chin held high and her eyes stern. She had watched Cate Blanchett and Dame Judi Dench do it enough times in films. The crowd, mercifully, had their heads lowered in a bow. Her wrist buzzed. Her throne was far enough from the crowd that they couldn't scrutinize her face. Anyone who didn't believe she was Elizabeth simply kept their mouth shut for fear that they were wrong.

"Thank you all for coming at such short notice," Donna spoke plainly and clearly. "I realize you are all worried about events that transpired here at the Tower, and we hope to clear all of that up today." Then she ran out of words. "Er....right. So...may the Force be with you and....er...have a seat." 

The crowd shot confused looks around the room, muttering to each other as they moved to sit down. Elizabeth stepped beside Donna and guided her to the throne, which was nearly bloody impossible to sit in with all her petticoats. 

"How do you sit in this?" Donna whispered up at Elizabeth. Any bystander would think the Queen was plotting with her mysterious adviser. Elizabeth gave her a wry smile from under the cloak.

"You don't," she said. "Now speak, your Majesty."

"Right," Donna said, looking at the crowd and scanning for redheads or anyone that looked remotely half-alien. "Yes. So....what is going on in the Tower. Well, as you know, I have been consulting heavily with the Lord Doctor and Lady Donna here..."

"Mysterious, if you ask me," muttered someone, and the rest of the court murmured their consent. Donna felt Elizabeth bristle beside her, but she did her best to look unperturbed. 

"They are experts in these matters, and I would thank you not to interrupt me, Lord Hamish," she said, glaring at the interruptor. She had no idea if his name was actually Hamish, but it only made him more terrified of her. "Didn't your mummy ever teach you manners?" 

Donna chuckled at her quip, and the whole room followed with polite, if slightly uncomfortable laughter. Her wrist buzzed again. She hated being in command. It was bloody terrifying. Donna had never felt so vulnerable in her life. The name thing was something she'd picked up in the schoolyard when she was a child. Her reputation from bully to buxom bombshell (HA.) was facilitated solely by the growth of her chest. 

Speaking of which, Donna suddenly remembered the doodad the Doctor gave her to draw out the Prime Queen. She placed her hand over the bodice of her dress and pushed in where the device was. She heard a soft beep to confirm that the device was on. Now she just had to make everyone angry. What could she say that would drive these people nuts?  

"In light of what's happened," she said, trying not to move so much. She wondered if the hormones were in the air already. "Given the amount of time we have spent together, the long nights and...you know, the murders, I, Queen Elizabeth I, stand here today to announce...." 

She could feel the tension in the room as the nobles waited for what she was going to say. This was exactly what she wanted. 

"That I am engaged to the Lord Doctor." 

That caused every mouth in the room to shout in shock and horror. Over the din, Donna continued speaking. 

"He will be named the King of England, and all my powers will be transferred to him," she continued, her words coached by Elizabeth, who quickly caught on to her plan. "We will be married here in the Tower in a Protestant ceremony, tomorrow at dawn." 

Suddenly a scream ripped across the air, lost in the crowd of angry courtiers. A woman grabbed her head, bowing down and screaming, her red hair fanning around her as she writhed. There was a slow, cackling sound of crumpling paper as her head burst open, blood trickling down as hundreds of bees flew from the top of her head. 

"Oh my head!" Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed, dropping down on her knees as a massive headache hits her. "No, no, not to me, please..." 

"Elizabeth!" Donna exclaimed, kneeling to help her friend, who had her eyes screwed shut. 

"He warned me," she said. "He's trying to kill me! God, if I ever survive this, I'm going to _kill_ him," Elizabeth said, fighting off a wave of nausea as the eggs inside her body rattled. She felt like her insides were going to burst, but she was not going to let that happen.  

The nobles finally notice what happened and panic breaks loose. Everyone was screaming, and guards immediately flanked Donna and Elizabeth as the crowd jostled to get out of the room. A light mist fell from the sky, but nobody seems to have noticed because the Mistress of the Robes is screaming too. But instead of her head exploding, the bones in her body snap and creak, and someone heard the sound of crumpling paper. Then a low buzz reverberated in the air. The screaming grew to a fever pitch as a seven foot bee with a furry neck and a massive lower body hovered six feet in the air. 

_Fifteen seconds to teleport,_ Donna thought, reassured by the haptic buzzing on her wrist. She pulled the doodad from her bodice and helped Elizabeth up. The Prime Queen buzzed and rammed herself through the wall of guards, knocking them aside like helpless bowling pins.

"The Queeeennnnzzzz," Donna heard her speak. "IIIII neeeeeed new Queeeeennnnzz." 

_Ten seconds._

The last of the guards were knocked aside as she finally found Donna and Elizabeth. The Queen of England slumped against Donna, passed out but still human. Donna's eyes grew wide at the sight of the Prime Queen. Her wings hummed across her, her gigantic, bug eyes moved across the room, her feelers quivering in anticipation.

"You're not getting either of us, you hear me?" She yelled brazenly at the bee. "Now buzz off, bozo!!"

_Five, four..._

"IIIIII neeeeeeeedd Queeeeennnnzzz," she repeated, swooping down on them. She turned in a wide arc, her stinger poised and ready. 

_Three, two..._  

The Prime Queen swiped, and Donna felt heat and pain sear through her body as she was pierced. 

_One._  

The device on her wrist blared out a sound, and the last thing Donna could remember before she teleported was seeing bright red blood. She could hear the gentle whirring of the TARDIS underneath her as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she lost all consciousness.

* * *

The Prime Queen was just about to place the eggs into her new hostesses when both bodies disappeared, only to be replaced by a skinny, non ginger man with a wild look in his eye and a small pen in his hands. He had his back to the Queen.

"Oi!" He exclaimed, like he had been rudely interrupted. He whirled around, frowning until he looked up at the massive inset watching him with domed, glassy eyes. "Oh hello," he said in an utterly fascinated tone. "Look at you! A bit of human blood, the right DNA mixing, the right K-wave, a bit of parasitism and you're massive! Brilliant! _Molto bene, bellissima!"_

The Queen didn't seem too flattered by the compliment and flew straight for the Doctor with its stinger in front of it. The Doctor managed to duck away from the sharp extremity, wondering vaguely how a teleport suddenly became a position switcher. 

Fortunately, he had a little back up plan, which he only realized he could do now. Digging his hand into his deep pocket, he whipped out four little electronic squares the size of his hand. A little gift from the Sycorax after his last visit there. He would have prattled on and on about his visit where he invented a drinking game and became the toast of the town, but the Prime Queen seemed much more interested in gutting him with her stinger.  

With quick catlike moves, the Doctor ran around the room, surreptitiously dropping the squares in strategic points in the room. The Queen was relentless, stabbing at air. He whipped out the sonic, his face twisted in concentration as he hid behind one of the massive pillars in the room. He was pretty sure he had a setting for bees, but what was it again?  

"Come on come on come on," he muttered to himself, willing his big ol' brain to remember. His hands were switching settings on the sonic with frantic fingers as the buzzing followed him. Something snicked into place in his mind and the screwdriver have a little whirr. "Ha!" 

He whipped she sonic at the Prime Queen, and she stumbled backwards, her antennae waving about massively in her confusion. Her pincers moved like she was speaking. 

_The Queeeeeeennnnnnnzzzzzzz....for the hommmmmeworldddd_

"Your homeworld has been restored," the Doctor announced, keeping the sonic steady in his hand and walking forward. "There's no need to do his anymore!"

The Queen stumbled back again, the Doctor counting the steps he needed to take. _Five...four...three...two..._   

_I....neeeddd....queeeennnnnzzzz....for the hommmmeewoooorlddd_

"You've killed innocent people, but I have to give you a choice. Leave now before I make you," The Doctor warned, his eyes burning brighter than a forest wildfire as he stared down the Queen of the bees. "Go."

The Prime Queen shot forward the moment the Doctor loosened his hold on the sonic, but he was much faster. He pointed at the squares on the floor and a wide stasis field enclosed around the Queen, trapping her like an insect in a jar. Stunned, she fell to the floor, her arms and wings flapping uselessly as she lay on her thorax. The Doctor stepped forward and put his hands in his pockets as he looked mercilessly into the field.

"Your lifespan is nearly over," he said to her, his gaze betraying nothing of his feelings. "You can stay here and die peacefully or I can take you home and let you spend your last moments there. What do you think?" 

He reached out, about to tap the stasis field to mimic knocking on glass when the sound of a cloister bell reverberated through the room. Confusion suddenly gave way to fear. The Doctor's hearts clenched, like two invisible hands had gotten a hold of them, squeezed and banged his hearts together. He stumbled and the bell tolled again. He knew what was wrong.

"Donna," he said under his breath, looking up at where the TARDIS was, several feet above him. Looking around, he saw a chandelier tied to the ceiling from the lower floor. The Doctor grabbed the rope, pointed at the knot with the sonic and shot upward as the chandelier fell, letting go just in time for his long legs to swing into the balcony. 

The bell tolled again as he ran to his ship, the door already open and impatiently waiting for him. Elizabeth was on the floor of the console room, passed out and on her back. The mental strain of fighting off the Majoran eggs were too much for her, and she was out like a light. Beside her, shaking and attempting to get up from her position on the floor, was Donna. She reached for Elizabeth, and the Doctor's eyes widened at the sight of crimson blood, dripping off of her hand. 

"Donna!" He yelled, rushing across the room to where she lay, her blue eyes barely able to focus on him. He hefted her into his arms, trying to find the source of the bleeding. She was sweating, blood was streaked across her cheek and hands. The bodice of the dress hung on her as it was ripped, red blood spilling across her front. It was still flowing, almost gushing out of her. "No, no, no, no! Donna, can you hear me?" 

"Like a bloody foghorn," she mumbled, her eyes fluttering under the lights. "Knew you'd come when I called, Spaceman."

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," he said, brushing a hand across her cheek to assess her temperature and maybe reassure himself that she was still there. His lips shook as he placed a kiss over her sweaty forehead. Her pulse was weak and her breath was shallow and quick. He didn't have a lot of time, he still had a bee locked in a stasis field in Elizabethan England, not to mention Elizabeth herself passed out on the floor of the TARDIS. How ironic that a Time Lord was running out of time. 

He was suddenly aware that Donna wasn't breathing. Her eyes were closed and she fell forward, her cheek brushing against the Doctor's. He was out of time.

"Donna, don't do this to me!" He exclaimed, laying her on the console floor, hoping that he was just imagining things. He wasn't. In fact Donna's lips were turning purple as the stain on her bodice grew bigger. Her heart stopped, and the Doctor thought he would never breathe again.

"Will you move?!" Elizabeth exclaimed, shoving the Doctor aside and already holding up what looked like a dagger. The Doctor's eyes widened and he scrambled to push Elizabeth aside before she did any more damage.

But suddenly he heard Donna gasp for much needed breath, her scream cutting through the console room and gutting him from the inside. A bloody corset flew across the room, as did scraps of gold cloth. Donna breathed, gasping as her lungs burned. The Queen had swiped her deeply from the top of her left breast to her shoulder, far enough from any vital organs, luckily.  

"You are such a twat," Elizabeth exclaimed at the Doctor, clamping the discarded cloth over Donna's wound, making her groan and wince. She looked at the Doctor with exasperation. Why was he not moving? "You're a Doctor, aren't you? DO SOMETHING." 

The Doctor heard Donna's broken, weak laughter as he came up to them, scooping Donna easily to his arms and lifting. He heard her mutter something in protest. He knew she wasn't as heavy as she insisted she was. Feeling his cool skin against hers, Donna instinctively leaned towards him, nuzzling her neck in his.  

"Room's spinning," she grunted, burrowing further. If they kept this up, she was going to go into shock, and that would obviously be of no good to anyone at all. Elizabeth's hands were wet with Donna's blood as the Doctor turned from her. 

"I have a medical room here," he explained, walking down a hallway and into the medical bay, which the TARDIS had moved to the first door they came upon. Elizabeth paused by the doorway, momentarily shocked at the stark white room, with all its equipment, medicines and cures within. Anything she might have said was ignored by the Doctor, speaking to Donna to keep her eyes open.

"There are still so many places I have to take you," he murmured. "Clom's actually quite lovely this time of year, with all the poppies, you'd love it. And a beach! Why haven't I taken you to a beach yet, Donna? Please open your eyes Donna, please please please...I can't lose you, not again."

"Hats," Donna said, apropos to nothing. "Is there...?"

"Milliner in the Sixth galaxy of Tarth. They supply all the fascinators for the Third Human Empire."

 "I knew it," Donna managed to smile. Her face faltered slightly. "Doctor, if I--"

"Don't," he said. "Not yet."

The Doctor placed Donna on a bed, retrieving towels and sheets to catch the blood she was losing.He couldn't attend to her and get to the diagnosis machine at the same time, so Elizabeth stepped in, taking over. Donna had lost consciousness then, her fingers slipping from her grasp on the Doctor's hand.

"Do what you have to do, Doctor," Elizabeth said, not giving him another look. "I can help."  

"I can't," He said, placing his lips to her clammy forehead to reassure himself that she was still there. "I can't leave her, this is my fault, and I don't want your help."

"Yes and leaving a bloody great killer bee out in the throne room will be your fault too if you don't do something about it!" Elizabeth shouted at him. "You are infuriating! You clearly don't deserve Donna if you think she would want you to stay here in the middle of the madness you have caused outside!" 

The Doctor shot Elizabeth a glare, which she simply returned. He kissed Donna's forehead again, muttering promises that he wasn't going to lose her. Then he detached just about as quickly, turning to the diagnosis machine. He pressed a few keys and instruments descended from a previously unseen hatch above them. He attached a mask over Donna's mouth for her to breathe, a heart and blood pressure monitor for her vitals, a small drain for the blood, an IV of anesthesia and what looked like a deadly laser. Elizabeth pretended not to be fazed by the thirty second century technology.

"These are supposed to be for Time Lords," the Doctor explained, shaking his head as he made a few calibrations. "But I need time, I need time to sort this out."  

"I'll be here," Elizabeth said, neither warmly nor in a snappy way. She was just stating a fact. The Doctor nodded and gave Donna one last kiss before scampering off to deal with the Prime Queen.

Once he was gone, Elizabeth looked down at the woman attached to wires and machinery. The laser was slowly closing her wounds, repairing tissues bit by tiny bit. Donna didn't seem bothered at all, breathing into the mask and still out of it. Elizabeth watched her carefully, stroking the tips of her cold knuckles. 

"What I wouldn't give for you to wake up, Donna Noble," She sighed, squeezing her hand. "I will never see you again, I am sure. But know that for the briefest of moments, I loved you the only way I knew how. How I wish I didn't do this to you. I'm so sorry," she sobbed, burying her face and her guilt into Donna's hand. "Forgive me, my love. The Doctor was right. You are more important than I will ever be, because you are much braver than I." 

Elizabeth leaned forward and kissed Donna on the lips, her cheeks stained with blood and tears. Then she turned her heel and walked out of the TARDIS, leaving Donna alone. 

* * *

 Donna felt like someone had smashed a hammer over her head. Everything was dry and heavy, her legs felt sticky and her throat was dry as a bone. She managed to crack an eye open and found herself in the familiar dimmed light settings of her room onboard the TARDIS. She struggled with the mask in her face, groaning when her injured side protested. 

"Donna!" The Doctor exclaimed, seemingly popping into existence. He stilled her hands as they pried the mask from her face, helping her sit up to drink water. His voice significantly lowered after he saw her wince when he said her name. "You're awake."

 "Stubborn as an ox, me," she joked. "What happened?" 

"I almost lost you, that's what happened," the Doctor said, kneeling beside her bed like a man seeking penance. He rest his forehead briefly on her thigh, like speaking was too much of an effort. "Again, I let you put yourself in harm's way, and I left you with Elizabeth. I left you, Donna. You were alone, and I didn't even know! This isn't what was supposed to happen. I only just got you back, and I..."

"Doctor," she began. 

"No. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I promised you this would happen, and yet apparently I am rubbish at keeping promises--"

"Shut up for a mo, will you, Spaceman?" Donna asked, weakly clamping a hand over his mouth. "I'm no letting you have a big ol' pity party over this. I was asking what happened to the Queen."

"Which one," the Doctor asked darkly, sending an ominous shiver down Donna's spine. 

"Both of them, I guess," she said, suddenly dreading the answer. What if she hadn't been able to stop him from doing something horrible? He hated Elizabeth, she knew, but he would never do something absolutely mad, would he...?

"The Prime Queen from Melissa Majora decided to chitter off to her home world with her flock," the Doctor said. "We're just coming back from their planet. It was brilliant, honeycombs everywhere, and wildflowers are far as the eye can see. The Prime Queen was happy, as were the other bees"

Donna nodded. Thank god. 

"As for Elizabeth," the Doctor said, his eyes growing dark. "We are never going to see her again. She put you in danger. She left you alone in the TARDIS before I could come back with the Queen. She convinced the court that I bewitched her, and wanted to have me beheaded. So we're never going back." 

"Explains your adventure with Martha, though," Donna smiled, suddenly feeling exhausted again. She lay back down on the pillows and closed her eyes. She was slightly sad that she would never see Elizabeth again, for all intents and purposes they were friends, but she knew it didn't matter. Then she opened an eye again and looked at him. He still looked guilty and terrified, and that wasn't what she wanted at all. Everything was okay. She was okay, and so was he. She wanted him to be happy. "Come here." 

He obliged, slipping into the bed beside her, running a hand up and down Donna's arm as she curled into him as much as she could. Her shoulder would have a scar, but it was a small price to pay. They could only be grateful. 

"You alright, Spaceman?" She asked.  

"I'm always alright," he sighed, kissing the top of her head. They both knew what that meant. "Did you really tell the court that I was going to be King of England?"

"Yeah," she said nonchalantly. "You would have been absolutely rubbish at it."

"You made a beautiful Queen." 

"Pish. I love you," she said, meaning to be reassuring and warm.  

"I love you too."

That was when the Doctor knew that from now on, he would never be able to let her go. Donna Noble didn't realize it yet, but the Most Important Woman in the Universe held the hearts of the last Time Lord. It terrified him, and yet he knew that it was only right. 

 


End file.
